Russia launched 35 missiles, including 27 ballistic missiles of Iskander-M and S-400 types from the Bryansk and Kursk areas, together with 185 attack drones of various designs, against Ukraine on the night of 31 July to 1 August. Kyiv formed the primary target axis while secondary strikes reached the Dnipro, Sumy, Kharkiv and Poltava regions. Ukrainian air defenses intercepted one ballistic missile, one guided air-to-ground missile and 154 drones. Twenty-six ballistic missiles and four anti-ship missiles struck targets at roughly 21 locations, with debris recorded at two further sites. [E1]
Nine people were killed in Kyiv and roughly 28 to 30 others were injured, among them four children. Damage extended across five to seven districts and included 18 residential buildings, a school, the Lithuanian embassy and assorted infrastructure and commercial facilities. Fires broke out and power outages followed in places. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported the toll and the residential focus of the strike. [E2]
Zelenskyy stated that only one ballistic missile was intercepted simply because there were no interceptors for the Patriot systems. He added that the shortage encourages Russia to launch packages that take human lives and that every delivery of ballistic interceptors saves lives. The batteries themselves remained present; their ready ballistic-interceptor layer stood empty that night. [E2]
Ukrainian forces nevertheless intercepted the great majority of the incoming drones, showing that the wider air-defense network continued to function against slower, lower-flying threats. Patriot is a US-designed system, so the empty magazine turns a battlefield shortage into a supplier-side question as well as a Ukrainian one. Public sources cannot inspect the ready stock, and the presidential statement also serves procurement diplomacy aimed at partners. [E1][E2]
In the same 1–2 August window Ukrainian forces conducted reciprocal deep strikes. The General Staff reported a fire at the Saratov oil refinery, which processes around 7 million tonnes of oil per year and supplies Russian forces and the military-industrial complex, together with hits and a fire at Engels airfield, home to Tu-95MS and Tu-160 strategic bombers. Additional strikes struck the Lyudinovo fuel depot in Kaluga Oblast and a drone storage, preparation and launch site near Navlya in Bryansk Oblast. Full damage assessment remained ongoing. [E3]
Saratov regional authorities confirmed that the UAV attack damaged civilian infrastructure in both Saratov and Engels. A multi-apartment residential building in Engels was hit and two people died there; temporary housing was arranged for residents and structural inspections begun. Local accounts registered visible fires and smoke at industrial and airfield zones without confirming bomber losses, refinery shutdown duration or systemic economic effects. [E4]
The night therefore exposed a narrow and temporary shortfall: the specialized ballistic layer was empty while drone defenses held, and the counterstrikes registered as fires rather than verified collapses of capacity. Nine deaths in Kyiv remain the immediate human cost of that gap.