KYIV/WARSAW, July 31, 2026 — Russia launched more than 70 missiles and approximately 280 drones against Ukraine overnight, killing at least nine people, including children, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Kyiv, Lviv and several other regions came under attack. Air-raid warnings remained active in the Ukrainian capital for more than five hours, forcing thousands of residents to seek protection in metro stations and other shelters.
In neighbouring Poland, an object crashed in an uninhabited field near Tarnawa-Kolonia, approximately 100 kilometres from the Ukrainian border. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said preliminary evidence indicated that it was a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile.
The impact created a crater approximately 10 metres wide, but no injuries were reported. Polish fighter aircraft had been placed on alert during the Russian operation. Warsaw said there was no immediate indication that Poland had been deliberately targeted.
Russia maintained that its operation was directed against Ukrainian military factories and vessels allegedly transporting defence equipment. Its description of individual targets could not be independently verified.
Why it matters: The suspected entry of a Russian missile into NATO-member Poland raises the risk that a miscalculation or technical failure could widen the war beyond Ukraine.
