Russia launches largest aerial attack on Ukraine with 741 drones & missiles

In open defiance of US President Donald Trump’s sharpening tone, Russia on Tuesday night launched the largest aerial attack of the war on Ukraine.

Russia attacked Ukraine with 741 drones and missiles on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday (July 8 -9) in the largest attack of the war.

The attacks came hours after Trump said that Putin was throwing "a lot of bullshit" at him. He also said that Putin was “not treating human beings right” and that he was “killing too many people, so we’re sending some defensive weapons to Ukraine”.

“We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth. He’s very nice to us all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless,” said Trump.

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Even as the barrage covered nearly the entire country, Ukraine said the main target was the northwestern region of Volyn where Russia targeted an airfield and many industrial facilities near the city of Lutsk. See the map below that tracks all overnight attacks.

🔴 Russian forces have launched one of the most massive attacks on Ukraine to date tonight, with Lutsk and Zhytomyr being the primary targets.

Preliminarily, the assault involved:
- 540 to 620 Shahed drones or decoy drones
- 6 Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles
- 4 Kh-101 missiles. pic.twitter.com/E7KKL8Ljdh

— UNITED24 Media (@United24media) July 9, 2025

Out of 728 drones, Ukraine said it neutralised 296 drones and jammed 415 drones. Overall, along with seven cruise missiles, Ukraine said it took down 718 of the 741 missiles and drones with the use of air defence systems, electronic warfare systems, interceptor drones, mobile fire teams, and fighter planes.

Putin ramps up attacks as Trump refuses to punish him

Emboldened by lack of any punishment from Trump, Putin has attacked Ukraine with hundreds of drones and missiles on a near-daily basis for weeks now.

Even as Trump has occasionally used sharp words, he has not done anything to pressurise or punish Putin . Instead, he and his administration have taken a series of steps that have emboldened Putin. For one, the Trump administration stopped the supply of weapons to Ukraine.

Last week, Russia had attacked Ukraine with a record 550 drones and missiles within hours of a call between Trump and Putin.

As for the last night’s attack, Russia said that its “long-range” and “precision” strike targeted military airfield infrastructure and claimed that “all designated targets were destroyed.”

In a social media post, Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Chief of Staff, said, “It is quite telling that Russia carried out this attack just as the United States publicly announced that it would supply us with weapons.”

ALSO READ: With Russia’s terms to Ukraine, Putin seeks surrender — not a peace deal

Trump has so far floated three ceasefires. While Ukraine all three proposals, Russia rejected all of them. Instead, Putin has doubled down on his maximalist demands that would mean the end of Ukraine as a nation if implemented .

Meanwhile, on the ground, Russia said that it has captured the village of Tolstoy on Wednesday in the eastern Donetsk region.

‘Yet another proof of the need for sanctions’

Following the attacks, Zelenskyy said that the barrage was “yet another proof of the need for sanctions” against Russian oil that has been funding Russia’s war.

Zelenskyy further said that the attack at a time when so many efforts have been made to achieve peace showed that “Russia continues to rebuff them all”.

“Secondary sanctions on those who buy this oil and thereby sponsor killings. Our partners know how to apply pressure in a way that will force Russia to think about ending the war, not launching new strikes. Everyone who wants peace must act,” Zelenskyy further said.

In the overnight barrage, Russian drones and missiles caused damage in 10 regions including Dnipro, Kyiv, Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy, and Chernihiv regions, according to Ukrainian state media.