Ukrainian long-range drones kill at least nine people deep inside Russia, including a 13-year-old girl, while Russian missile and drone strikes claim five lives across Ukraine in the latest tit-for-tat attacks.
Russian and Ukrainian forces have killed at least 14 people in the latest exchange of long-range strikes, as both sides intensify attacks far beyond the front lines in the more than four-year-old war.
Swarms of Ukrainian drones launched overnight into Sunday targeted multiple Russian regions, killing at least nine people despite Moscow’s claim that its air defences shot down 635 drones. The attacks reached deep into Russian territory, with some strikes occurring more than 1,300km (800 miles) from the front.
Deadly Drone Strikes Hit Several Russian Regions:
In the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, four people were killed, including a 13-year-old girl near a playground in the village of Printsevka, according to the region’s acting Governor Alexander Shuvaev. Two other girls, aged seven and nine, were injured and hospitalised. Russia’s children’s rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, described the incident as an “inhumane terrorist act.”
Further afield, three people died when a drone struck a car in the Udmurtia region. Acting Governor Olga Abramova called the attack “monstrous in its senselessness,” stating that the victims “were definitely not a military target.” In the Saratov region, two people were killed when a residential building in the city of Engels was hit. Governor Roman Busargin reported damage to civilian infrastructure in both Saratov and Engels.
Ukraine’s military said its forces attacked the Saratov oil refinery and the Engels strategic bomber airbase, sparking fires at both sites, and also struck an oil depot in the Kaluga region. Ukrainian drones additionally targeted a Wildberries warehouse in the Samara region, about 800km from Ukraine’s most advanced positions. Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev reported no casualties but said a fire was being extinguished. Ukraine has struck about a dozen Wildberries sites since mid-July in an effort to disrupt the operations of the major online retailer, often described as Russia’s equivalent of Amazon.
Russian Strikes Kill Five in Ukraine Amid Escalating Air War:
On the Ukrainian side, Russian missile, drone and guided bomb attacks killed at least five people on Sunday. One person died when a guided bomb struck a residential building in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, according to Governor Ivan Fedorov. Another attack killed one person and set fire to a postal terminal on the outskirts of Kharkiv, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said.
Russian strikes also claimed two lives in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region and one in the southern Kherson region, regional authorities reported. Both sides are increasingly relying on long-range missiles and drones to hit targets deep behind the lines, expanding the conflict’s geographic reach.
The latest exchange comes amid a sharp intensification of Russia’s aerial campaign. Data compiled from Ukrainian Air Force reports showed Moscow fired a record 376 missiles at Ukraine in July-more than double the June total-with most aimed at Kyiv. United Nations figures indicated the intensified ballistic campaign killed more than 170 civilians between 1 and 27 July.
A major overnight barrage on Friday killed at least nine people and wounded 33 in the Ukrainian capital. During that assault, Russia launched 220 aerial weapons, including 35 missiles (27 of them ballistic) and 185 drones. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said air defence units intercepted 154 drones but only one ballistic missile, citing a critical shortage of US-supplied Patriot interceptor missiles.
Ukrainian forces have expanded strikes on Russian economic and energy targets in recent months, aiming to undermine Moscow’s capacity to sustain the war. Russia has framed its own long-range attacks as responses to these operations. The cycle of reciprocal deep strikes continues to exact a heavy civilian toll on both sides of the border, with no immediate sign of de-escalation.