Kyiv (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Russia conducted a new overnight attack on Ukraine on Saturday, launching a barrage of drones and missiles. The strike focused on the country’s western region and resulted in at least two deaths in Chernivtsi, a city on the border with Romania.
In July 2025, Russia greatly increased its air operations against Ukraine, unleashing record numbers of drones and missiles in synchronizing attacks. These air attacks not only hit the front-line regions, but also hit western cities of Ukraine that were considered previously safe, taking many lives and inflicting vast infrastructure damage.
Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said that Western Ukrainian cities of Lviv, Lutsk, and Chernivtsi were affected the most due to the Russian attacks, and other Ukrainian areas were also attacked.
“Russia continues to escalate its terror, launching another barrage of hundreds of drones and missiles, damaging residential areas, killing and injuring civilians,”
Sybiha stated in a post on X, restating the call for more robust sanctions against Russia.
“Russia’s war machine produces hundreds of means of terror per day. Its scale poses a threat not only to Ukraine, but to the entire transatlantic community.”
What damage was reported in Chernivtsi and Lviv?
Moreover, Ruslan Zaparaniuk, the governor of the Chernivetskyi region, stated that two people were killed and 14 others injured as Russian drones and a missile hit the city, located approximately 40 kilometres from Ukraine’s frontier with Romania.
Multiple fires erupted throughout the city, damaging residential and administrative structures, according to regional officials. In Lviv, near Ukraine’s border with Poland, the attack caused damage to 46 homes, a university building, the city courts, and approximately 20 small- and medium-sized business properties, Mayor Andriy Sadovyi reported.
How many drones and missiles were launched in the previous attack?
A few days ago, Russia conducted its largest aerial attack on Ukraine, deploying a massive barrage of drones and missiles that targeted a total of 741 locations.
Moscow employed 728 Shahed-type drones and decoys, along with seven Iskander cruise missiles and six aeroballistic Kinzhal missiles, mainly hitting Lutsk in western Ukraine, which is less than 100 kilometers from the Polish border.
The Ukrainian Air Forces announced that they shot down 296 Shahed-type drones and jammed 415 with electronic warfare. They also intercepted all seven Iskander cruise missiles.
However, six Kinzhal missiles evaded Ukraine’s air defenses due to a shortage of US-provided Patriot missile systems and interceptors.
