One of Russia’s largest missile and drone attacks kills 23 in Kyiv. Ukraine’s defense intelligence hits Russia’s Buyan-M class corvette with drones. Russia sets a new record for war spending.
One of Russia’s largest missile, drone attacks kills 23 in Kyiv
Russia carried out a major missile and drone attack on Kyiv overnight into Thursday, killing at least 23 people, including four children, and wounding 52 others. The strikes damaged dozens of residential and other buildings across several districts in the city.
In Darnytskyi district, a whole section of a five-story building was wiped out and the upper floors were destroyed. As of Thursday evening, the search and rescue operation continued for the residents unaccounted for under the rubble. A 2-year-old girl, a 14-year-old boy and a girl and a boy, both aged 17, are among the victims of the attack. At least 11 other children were injured, Kyiv mayor Vitaliy Klychko said.
Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia had launched 629 missiles and drones toward Ukraine, including two Kh-47M2 Kinzhal ballistic missiles from Russian regions of Lipetsk and Voronezh, nine Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles from the Bryansk and Voronezh regions, 20 Kh-101 cruise missiles from Tu-95MS strategic bombers in the Saratov region, and 598 Shahed and decoy drones from the area of Russia’s Kursk, Bryansk, Millerovo, Oryol, Shatalovo, Primorsko-Akhtarsk, and from Hvardiyske in occupied Crimea. Ukraine’s air defenses shot down or otherwise neutralized 26 missiles, including a Kinzhal missile and seven Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles, and 563 drones, 589 aerial targets in total.
Head of the Communications Directorate for Ukraine’s Air Force Command, Colonel Yuriy Ihnat said a combined missile and drone attack on Kyiv overnight into Thursday was one of the biggest mounted by Russia.
“We had a record of 740 [aerial targets, Russia used 741 aerial attack vehicles in a bombardment on July 9 – edit.]. Today’s figure is 629, but this time there were more missiles. The enemy is increasingly using jet-powered drones. They also deployed them last night in different locations,” Ihnat said on national television on Thursday.
“What distinguishes this attack from the others? A notable feature of the attack that the whole world needs to see is that two cruise missiles directly hit an apartment building,” he added.
The overnight attacks damaged the buildings housing the EU delegation and British Council. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said Russia was targeting diplomats “in direct breach of the Vienna convention.”
“The EU mission to Ukraine was damaged. This requires not only the EU’s, but worldwide condemnation. We express solidarity with our EU colleagues and are ready to provide assistance,” Sybiha said in a post to X.
The British Council office has been severely damaged and will be closed to visitors until further notice, the organization said in a notice.
“Whatever Putin said in Alaska, his real actions reject diplomacy, dialogue, and peace efforts,” Sybiha said on X in response to Russia’s aerial strikes.
Kyiv city authorities have declared a day of mourning on Friday, August 29.
Ukraine’s defense intelligence hits Russia’s Buyan-M class corvette with drones
The Main Intelligence Department of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said on Thursday it had carried out a drone strike on a Russian Buyan-M class (or Project 21631) corvette operating in the Azov Sea off the Crimea coast. The vessel can launch Kalibr cruise missiles.
The Prymary unit of Ukraine’s defense intelligence used an aerial drone to strike and damage the ship’s radar station, while the agency’s special forces attacked the side of the corvette.
The targeted enemy ship was operating in a potential missile launch zone in the Temryuk Bay, but took damage and was forced to leave the area, the message reads.
Buyan-M are multipurpose ships of the “river-sea” class.
The Ukrainian military has hit and destroyed 15 Russian vessels with Magura V5 naval drones, derailing Russia’s naval ambitions, the defense intelligence said late last year.
Russia mostly keeps in Crimea its ships of the Black Sea Fleet that are either not ready for use or are being repaired, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Navy, Captain Dmytro Pletenchuk said in April 2025.
Russia uses Kalibr cruise missiles against Ukraine once a month, Pletenchuk said last week.
Russia sets new record for war spending
Russia’s military spending in the first half of 2025 set a record, reaching 8.48 trillion rubles (USD 105.59 billion), The Moscow Times said on Wednesday, citing figures by Janis Kluge, a researcher at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.
Russia’s war spending rose by 31 per cent compared to the same period in 2024. It grew 95 per cent against the first half of 2023 and tripled compared with the first year of its full-scale invasion into Ukraine, the research shows.
Russia spent 1.4 trillion rubles (USD 17.43 billion) on average per month and 46.9 billion rubles (USD 583.69 million) per day on its military. The daily amount exceeds annual budgets of some of Russia’s poorest regions.
Nearly two-thirds (62 per cent) of the military spending is classified. In the first half of the year, Russia spent 3.2 trillion rubles (USD 39.85 billion) under open military lines, and 5.28 trillion rubles (USD 65.74 billion) under classified ones.
The classified part of the budget rose by 41 per cent, and increased four times since January–June of 2022.
From 2022 to 2024, the Russian government spent over 20 trillion rubles (over USD 249.03 billion) on the state military order, and the 2025 budget includes another 13.5 trillion rubles (about USD 168.10 billion) under “national defense” — 30 per cent of all spending, the largest share since Soviet times.
There will be no reduction in defense spending in 2026, but a decline is possible in 2027 should hostilities cease, as other spending areas fight for resources, a Russia government source told Reuters. There will be no return to the level that existed before the full-scale invasion began, the person said.