Russia unleashes largest airborne onslaught on Ukraine since invasion began

In a chilling display of force and persistence, Russia launched its most extensive aerial assault on Ukraine since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022. 

A sweeping overnight barrage of 741 airborne weapons, including drones and various projectiles lit up the skies on July 9, according to Ukraine’s Air Force.

The relentless storm of steel and fire targeted civilians in regions across the country, with air raid sirens wailing deep into the night and aircraft guns thundering in response. Volyn in western Ukraine, particularly its capital of Lutsk, bore the brunt of the onslaught. 

Explosions rocked the city, setting buildings ablaze and sending plumes of smoke spiraling into the early dawn. The mayor said it was the most massive attack on the city since the beginning of the war. 

Ukraine’s defenders with a coordinated force of fighter jets, surface-to-air units, mobile fire teams, electronic warfare squads, and drone operators all scrambled to repel the wave. 

The night sky became a battlefield as interceptors lit up the darkness, swatting down missiles and drones before they could strike. Still, the sheer volume of the attack left a deadly trail. 

Debris from intercepted weapons rained down on 14 locations, causing damage and sparking fires. Four regions sustained direct hits, adding to the mounting destruction. 

In Khmelnytskyi region, a 65-year-old man was killed by debris from a downed drone. 

The attack turned especially harrowing in the southern Kherson region. There, a Russian drone stalked a quiet village yard in Pravdyne, where a grandmother and her one-year-old grandson were spending the morning. 

Without warning, the drone unleashed the payload. The child was killed instantly. 

They targeted a baby, said Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the regional military administration. A boy barely old enough to walk. 

Explosions were also heard in the Kharkiv, Donetsk, Poltava, Chernihiv regions, and on the outskirts of Kyiv. 

The attack marked not just a tactical escalation, but a continuation of a brutal pattern. According to Novynarnia media, not a single day in June, just as in the prior months from January to March, passed without Russia launching waves of drones across Ukraine, turning civilian life into a cycle of terror and mourning. 

Russia attacks Ukrainian cities and villages daily. The Ukrainian World Congress publishes news on the largest shelling incidents. More detailed information on the consequences of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, read the Victory Chronicles.