Zelensky returns from US to scene of destruction: 13 killed in massive Russian attacks

Widespread Russian airstrikes across Ukraine killed at least 13 people, including children, as President Zelensky returned from the US. The strikes reached as far as Lviv, prompting Polish fighter jets to scramble.

Russia launched a large-scale air attack across Ukraine overnight (Wednesday to Thursday, July 30, 2026), killing at least 13 people, including one in the capital Kyiv, with many wounded and targets hit as far west as Lviv. The attacks came as President Volodymyr Zelensky returned from the United States, where he reported that President Donald Trump agreed to grant Ukraine licenses for Patriot missiles. Air raid sirens sounded across most of Ukraine, and eyewitnesses reported explosions in Kyiv. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said several non-residential sites caught fire. Six people – including two children – were killed in the Dnipropetrovsk and Poltava regions. In Zelensky's hometown of Kryvyi Rih, two girls aged 5 and 12 were among six killed by a Russian Iskander-M ballistic missile that directly hit a family home. In Lviv, missiles struck two residential buildings, wounding 26 people. Poland scrambled fighter jets to secure its airspace. Meanwhile, a Wildberries warehouse in Penza caught fire following a Ukrainian drone attack, and another facility in Sarapul also caught fire. Russia's Defense Ministry claimed it shot down 258 drones overnight.