Russia launches major missile attack
Published On 20 Jul, 2026
Four people were killed in the north-eastern city of Kharkiv, and an elderly woman died in the capital Kyiv. There were two more fatalities in Zaporizhzhia in the south and one in Sumy in the north-east.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the raid on Kyiv was “one of the most massive ballistic attacks” since Russia launched a full-scale invasion in 2022.
Late on Sunday, Ukraine’s navy said five people were killed when a Turkish-owned civilian cargo ship with grain was hit by Russian missiles in the Black Sea. Russia has not commented.
Meanwhile, Ukraine said it had hit three Russian oil tankers in the Black Sea, and three oil depots in the southern Stavropol region. Zelensky said they were targets that “finance Russian aggression”.
A number of areas in the Kyiv region were hit overnight. The Ukrainian military said air defences in the capital had shot down 18 out of 41 missiles. The systems also intercepted 108 drones.
Kharkiv regional head Oleh Syniehubov said a postal terminal in the city suburbs had been attacked, with four men aged between 24 and 62 killed. Several of the injured were in a serious condition.
In a Telegram message, Zelensky said in the past week Russia had “used about 1,450 strike drones, more than 1,640 guided bombs and 99 missiles of various types against Ukraine”.
The Caspian Pipeline Consortium, which carries Kazakhstan’s Caspian oil to Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, said its terminal had been hit.
It said two tankers were damaged, prompting oil loading operations to be suspended. There were no injuries or oil spills.
The latest strikes on Kyiv involved a range of Russian weapons systems, including Iskander and hypersonic Zircon missiles, as well as 125 drones, the Ukrainian air force said.
