Russian missile and drone strikes on Kyiv and the surrounding region killed 17 people and wounded 42 others overnight into Wednesday, Ukraine's state emergency service said.

The attack was the latest in a series of large-scale Russian ballistic missile strikes that have become near-routine this summer.

Ukraine has a limited stockpile of interceptor missiles for the US-made Patriot systems, the sole air defence system in its arsenal able to shoot down ballistic missiles, making large volleys like Wednesday’s hard to stop, even as Ukraine has stepped up deep strikes on Russian oil refineries and energy infrastructure.

In the wider Kyiv region around the capital, 14 people were killed and 27 wounded, with fires at multiple locations, Ukraine’s emergency service said.

In the Ukrainian capital, one person was killed and 15 were wounded, and emergency crews extinguished all fires sparked by the strikes, the Kyiv City Military Administration said.

Both sides have increased long-range attacks in recent weeks, with Russia more than doubling its use of missiles in July, according to an AFP analysis.

Drone strikes have also become a regular occurrence, with Ukraine intensifying its attacks on civilian infrastructure, including oil and gas facilities and logistics in Russia.

Five people were killed and 10 others wounded in the Moscow region on Tuesday morning in strikes that targeted depots of the Russian e-commerce giant Wildberries.

Moscow's mayor said on Wednesday the country's air defences had intercepted and destroyed at least 10 drones heading toward the Russian capital.

And the governor of Tula region, south of Moscow, said Russian defences destroyed 107 Ukrainian drones in the area overnight.

He said at two apartment buildings were damaged and said a drone fell on the grounds of a Wildberries logistics facility in the region, causing a fire.

The company, which Ukraine has accused of storing drone parts and helping the Russian army, said it ordered a "precautionary evacuation".

Ukraine, meanwhile, expressed outrage over a video showing a man chased by a drone in Kherson city, calling it a deliberate "hunt" and "safari" targeting civilians.

UN human rights monitors have voiced concern about rising numbers of civilian casualties, which have reached their highest level since the conflict broke out in February 2022. (AP/AFP)


Edited by Aaron Tam