Russian and Ukrainian strikes kill five, officials say

Russian and Ukrainian strikes killed five people on both sides of the war border, officials said Thursday.

The attacks came as Ukraine has increased drone barrages against Russia, which Kyiv describes as retribution for Moscow's invasion, now in its fifth year.

Yegor Kovalchuk, the acting governor of Russia's Bryansk region, said Ukrainian shelling killed a 15-year-old girl and her grandmother in a village in the western border region. Local authorities said another man was killed in a drone raid in Russia's Yaroslavl region, about 300 kilometres, or 190 miles, northeast of Moscow.

Ukraine's emergency services said Russian missiles hit Kyiv overnight, killing two people and wounding five, including a child. President Volodymyr Zelensky said Moscow was relying on ballistic attacks and called for faster deliveries of interceptors for Ukraine's air defence. He said the salvo included 13 missiles, including eight ballistic missiles, and 151 drones.

AFP journalists in Kyiv heard a series of explosions after a Ukrainian air force alert reported several ballistic missiles approaching. They reported bright flashes in the sky followed by about half a dozen detonations.

The attack on Kyiv came hours after a visit by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan were both in the Ukrainian capital on Thursday morning.

Zelensky said it was already the sixth ballistic attack on Kyiv in July. The source said Kyiv has faced regular Russian ballistic missile attacks since last month, using weapons that are fast, hard to intercept and typically launched in rapid salvoes.

The report said Ukraine is suffering from a shortage of missiles for its US-designed Patriot systems, which are important for intercepting ballistic projectiles. US President Donald Trump said last week that he would grant Ukraine a licence to produce Patriot missiles. Zelensky said Wednesday that production could begin by the end of 2026, while analysts said setting up production may take almost two years.