KYIV, UKRAINE – JULY 19: Firefighters assess damage from a major overnight attack that killed at least one person and injured 13 others in Kiev, Ukraine, on July 19, 2026. Kiev was attacked with approximately 40 Iskander-M and hypersonic Zircon missiles. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)
Paula Bronstein | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Russia launched its largest ballistic missile attack on Kiev, while Ukrainian drones carried out the largest attack inside Russia in more than two years, raising concerns that the situation could escalate and further strain oil supplies.
Russia has carried out a series of ballistic missile and drone attacks on Ukraine, killing at least eight people and injuring dozens, Ukrainian officials said on Sunday. At least one person was killed and 15 injured in Kiev, with homes, warehouses, supermarkets and dormitories damaged, Mayor Vitali Klitschko announced on Sunday Telegram.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attack on Kiev was “one of the most massive ballistic attacks” since Russia launched a full-scale war against the country in 2022.
Separately, Ukraine’s air force said it intercepted 18 missiles and 108 of 126 unmanned aerial vehicles, and the salvo included 25 ballistic missiles, and three more people were reportedly killed in a Russian attack in northeastern Kharkiv on Sunday.
The missile barrage comes after a Ukrainian drone strike on Saturday reportedly destroyed two warehouses and an oil depot belonging to Russia’s largest online retailer Wildberry, killing at least nine people and injuring more than 80, making it the deadliest attack by Ukraine on Russian soil in more than two years.
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that 379 drones were shot down in 19 regions. Zelenskyy explained that he was targeting facilities used by Russia to supply “authorized parts for drone production and navigation equipment.”
The retaliatory strikes mark a sharp escalation in a campaign that increasingly targets Russia’s energy complexes. Last week, Ukrainian navy drones attacked two large Russian-linked crude oil tankers, Louise 1 and Vanda, in the Black Sea. The Black Sea is a waterway that accounts for more than 20% of Russia’s offshore oil flows.
NATO Military Committee Chairman Giuseppe Cavo Dragone said in an interview with the Kyiv Independent newspaper published on Saturday that the defense alliance is ready for any move by Russia against its eastern flank. Baltic states including Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland are beefing up defenses of critical infrastructure and transportation systems amid growing warnings of a possible Russian attack.
Russia “will lose much more than it will gain by just contacting Poland and the Baltic states, and we are ready,” the alliance’s top military chief told Ukrainian news agencies on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara on July 7.
Cavo-Dragone said the alliance’s primary objective remains to negotiate a ceasefire and “long-term peace in Ukraine,” while acknowledging that the allies’ stockpiles are being depleted and pointing to joint ventures with Ukraine’s defense industry as a way to maintain support.
Meanwhile, Kiev is seeking more air defense support. “Protection against ballistic missiles is always and currently our top priority,” President Zelenskiy said, adding that interceptor missiles are needed every day. He said last week that the United States and Ukraine reached a political agreement on a production license for Patriot interceptor missiles, adding that he expected production to begin by the end of the year.
Analysts say any hit to Russia’s oil exports could worsen a market already strained by the U.S.-Iranian conflict and the turmoil in the Strait of Hormuz. Brent futures rose above $90 a barrel on Monday as investors braced for a return to all-out war following renewed hostilities in the Gulf region.
Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates, told CNBC last week that “if Russian crude oil exports decline, prices could go well above $100.”
