Deaths mount, trauma sets in as Russia ramps up missile attacks on Ukraine

What the report says

Al Jazeera reports that Russia has intensified missile and drone strikes across Ukraine, with the wave of attacks causing heavy civilian casualties and deepening trauma among families in cities including Kyiv, Odesa and Kharkiv. The article says July was the deadliest month of the war since May 2022, and describes repeated hits on apartment blocks, a sports centre in Kyiv and other urban areas that left residents dead, wounded and displaced.

The report focuses on the human toll, including the killing of 32-year-old border security officer Valentyna Savitska in a July 24 strike on Kyiv and the injuries sustained by children and other relatives in other attacks. It also notes damage to homes and infrastructure, as well as the strain on rescue services and air defences. Ukrainian officials and analysts quoted by Al Jazeera argue that the scale of the assaults is tied in part to Ukraine’s shortage of Western-made interceptor missiles for Patriot systems.

According to the article, Kyiv has appealed to partners for more air-defence support while Washington has not provided the interceptor stocks Ukraine wants. The piece adds that Russia is using the advantage to pressure Ukraine militarily and politically, while also targeting ports and transport routes that matter for grain and other exports. That wider context, Al Jazeera says, has implications beyond the battlefield, including for food supplies in parts of the Middle East and for prospects of renewed peace talks.