Russia hits Ukrainian capital with ballistic missiles and drones, killing at least 9

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched an intense barrage of ballistic missiles and drones overnight into Saturday, killing at least nine people and injuring 22 civilians in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, Ukrainian authorities said.

The strikes came two days after a major Russian attack killed at least 10 people and injured more than 50 others across Ukraine, as Moscow apparently looks to exploit Kyiv’s critical shortage of Western-supplied anti-ballistic missile defenses. The relentless cycle of attacks dims the potential of reaching a diplomatic end to Russia’s more than 4-year-old invasion of its neighbor.

Russia’s defense ministry said Saturday it had launched a “massive strike” against “Ukrainian military-industrial complex facilities and logistics centers in Kyiv.”

A five-story residential building in the city's Solomianskyi District was damaged by falling debris and a fire broke out. Rescue workers evacuated 35 people from the upper floors of the building and two people died, with eight reported injured, including two children, according to Ukraine’s state emergency service.

In the Darnytskyi District of Kyiv, seven people were killed and another 14 injured after the attack caused fires and damage to houses, vehicles, an administrative and non-residential building, the emergency services said.

Elsewhere, emergency workers extinguished a fire in a non-residential building in the capital’s Shevchenkivskyi district. There was no additional information about earlier reports by the district mayor that people were trapped in another residential building.

Damage to commercial and residential buildings was reported in two other city districts.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pressed the United States and other Western partners over Ukraine’s need for more Patriot anti-ballistic missile defense systems to counter missile attacks from Russia.

The Ukrainian leader late Friday said he spoke to U.S. Vice President JD Vance and discussed a meeting with President Donald Trump earlier this week in Washington, which Zelenskyy described as “positive and productive.”

“The Russian air strikes on our country continue and air defense, specifically interceptors for Patriot systems against ballistic missiles, remains a top priority,” Zelenskyy said Friday in a post on Telegram.

At a NATO summit in Ankara in July, Trump said the U.S. would give Ukraine a license to make Patriot systems, but he appeared to move away from that commitment on Friday during a Cabinet meeting at the presidential retreat in Camp David, Maryland, saying he had not yet made a final decision on the matter.

From a basement shelter where she was taking cover as a second air alarm sounded for another wave, Liudmyla Nakonechna, 64, described how she was woken by loud explosions at 1:30 a.m.

“I ran into the corridor and was standing there when the bathroom door was blown off its hinges and struck me in the leg,” said Nakonechna, whose health is poor after undergoing cancer treatment. “I heard the sound of shattering glass. My balcony was covered in glass and it was completely blown apart, while the windows in my bedroom were also blown out.”

Nakonechna had not taken cover in a shelter since Russia’s full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, but the stress became too much, she said.

“It’s getting worse by the day,” Nakonechna said. “Whereas before there was an attack once every two weeks, or maybe once a week, now it happens practically every day. It is incredibly hard to bear this psychologically.”

Emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following Russian missile attacks in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following Russian missile attacks in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following Russian missile attacks in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following Russian missile attacks in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Boston All-Star Willson Contreras left the game after being hit by a pitch on the side of the helmet in the third inning of the Red Sox's 9-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night.

Contreras was struck by a 95-mph fastball from reliever Will Klein. The first baseman was checked on by the medical staff before taking first base. He had already hit the dirt after Klein's first pitch of the at-bat.

“He got hit in the ear flap so I think his ear was ringing a little bit,” interim manager Chad Tracy said after the game.

Contreras left the game for precautionary reasons after the Red Sox finished batting.

“He's had some tests done so far, which have been fine,” Tracy said. “The caveat to that is with stuff like that with the head, you're worried about concussions, you got to wait, let him sleep. He's got to get up tomorrow and see how he feels in the morning and do activity. We have to wait and see how he feels.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

Boston Red Sox's Willson Contreras, right, is checked on by Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Eliezer Alfonzo after being hit by a pitch during the third inning of a baseball game Friday, July 31, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Boston Red Sox's Willson Contreras is hit by a pitch during the third inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Friday, July 31, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Boston Red Sox's Willson Contreras, right, is checked on by Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Eliezer Alfonzo after being hit by a pitch during the third inning of a baseball game Friday, July 31, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)