In the early hours of Thursday, July 9, Russian forces launched a new series of combined air strikes over Ukraine. In the interval between 0:00 and 5:40 Bulgarian time (coinciding with local time in Ukraine), the main targets of the offensive were the capital Kiev, Kharkiv and the critical port infrastructure of Odessa. According to operational data from the Ukrainian Air Force and local governors, the attack was carried out by dozens of waves of strike drones and heavy ballistic missiles.
The night wave over Kiev: Explosions seconds before the sirens
The capital Kiev experienced another nightmarish night. Shortly after midnight, powerful detonations echoed in different parts of the city. According to eyewitnesses of Reuters, the first blasts from ballistic missiles were heard seconds before the official activation of air raid sirens.
Damage and fires: Fallen debris and direct drone hits caused a fire in a 25-story residential building in Kiev. The teams of The State Emergency Service of Ukraine has been mobilized on the ground, battling large flames at two industrial warehouses. Victims: As of 5:40 a.m., at least three civilians were reported dead and 13 injured, including a child. Over 52,000 people spent the night in the city's metro.
Destroyed in Kharkiv and Odessa
The country's second largest city, Kharkiv, was also subjected to rocket fire overnight. Mayor Igor Terekhov reported serious material damage to residential buildings and a local church, with two casualties reported at the moment.
In parallel, a wave of kamikaze drones attacked the Black Sea region. Extraordinary strikes in Odessa have hit port facilities vital to the country's exports, killing four people and wounding six others.
Air Defense Balance: Ballistic Missile Breakthrough
According to the Air Force's interim statistics as of 5:40 a.m., Ukrainian air defenses have demonstrated high effectiveness against drones, downing 139 out of a total of 169 drones. However, the critical shortage of Patriot systems has again proven decisive – none of the five Russian ballistic missiles were intercepted.
Moscow said the midnight strikes were in response to Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian tankers from its "shadow fleet" in the Sea of Azov. The midnight escalation coincides with a NATO summit in Ankara, where the issue of granting Kiev a license to produce its own long-range anti-aircraft missiles is being discussed. Rescue operations and debris clearance in the affected regions continue, with the number of casualties expected to rise throughout the day.