Russia readies major missile and UAV strike against Ukraine

Ukraine's military officials say Russia has finished preparations for a large‑scale missile and drone assault that could be launched within days, targeting Kyiv and the western provinces of Zhytomyr and Rivne. Kyiv warned that the coming attack could leave the country "a landscape of craters like the surface of the Moon".

In the preceding 24‑hour period, Ukraine reported that Russia fired nearly 160 missiles and hundreds of UAVs, while Russia claimed to have intercepted and destroyed more than 320 Ukrainian drones launched toward Russian territory, Crimea and the Sea of Azov. Ukrainian sources said at least 11 civilians were killed and 70 injured in recent Russian strikes on logistics centres, fuel depots and infrastructure. President Volodymyr Zelensky cautioned that Russia plans a major strike within 48 hours and is preparing a substantial military mobilisation for the autumn.

Russia's defence ministry said its forces attacked Ukrainian logistics, UAV factories, energy and transport facilities, and that its air defence shot down over 1,000 Ukrainian UAVs and eight guided bombs, claiming to have caused over 1,200 Ukrainian losses.