More than 185 drones and 27 ballistic missiles. New rain of fire on Ukraine on the night of August 1st. Moscow continues its air offensive against Kiev and the provisional toll reads nine victims and dozens injured in seven Ukrainian districts. For Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky these are victims that could have been avoided with an adequate availability of interceptor missiles. Trump, after promising a green light, did not follow his words with actions.
Zelensky: “This encourages Russia to attack”
“Overnight, the Russians launched 35 missiles against Ukraine, including 27 ballistic missiles, as well as 185 attack drones of various types. Kyiv was the main target, but the attacks also hit the regions of Dnipro, Sumy, Kharkiv and Poltava”, writes Zelensky on social media in his usual dramatic war bulletin. The Ukrainian president emphasizes the need for the Patriots: “Only one ballistic missile was intercepted, simply because there are no interceptors for the Patriot systems.” For Zelensky “it is precisely this shortage of ballistic missile interceptors that only encourages Russia to launch such attacks that take human lives.”
Since last night, response efforts have been underway in Kyiv and the surrounding region following Russia’s strike. There were numerous fires across the city. Seven districts were affected, and, as usual, the Russians struck ordinary residential buildings. Eighteen residential… pic.twitter.com/Fr8Jb4AEys
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 1, 2026
The Russian offensive targeted “normal residential buildings. Eighteen residential buildings, a school, the Lithuanian Embassy and infrastructure facilities were damaged.” Nonetheless, the Ukrainian army continues its offensives on Russian territory and at sea. A strategy that continues thanks to drones and which aims to wear down the enemy: “A sanctioned Russian container ship, Yanina, sailing under the Russian flag and with a capacity of over 100 thousand tons, was hit.” The armed forces also targeted the infrastructure of three Russian refineries in Bashkortostan. The targets were nearly 1,000 miles away.
Trump’s stop
Only a few days ago Zelensky went to Washington to ask Trump for the Patriot license. After the summit, the Ukrainian president said he was confident about the US green light. Even the tycoon himself seemed to open some glimmers of space: “You will have the license, it’s pretty cool”, he said after the NATO meeting in Türkiye.
On July 31, however, the about-face came. “You have to be very careful about letting someone else build them. I don’t think that will ever happen,” Trump said after a Cabinet meeting at Camp David. Replying to journalists, the tycoon made things worse: “We haven’t agreed yet, we’re discussing it, but it’s difficult to give up that type of technology.” There would be a very specific reason behind the no: “The people to whom we deliver that technology could one day turn against us. We must be very careful.” The White House then reiterated that Putin and Zelensky “must make a deal.”