Russian forces struck a residential high-rise in Kharkiv's Saltivka district on the morning of 9 August 2026, killing two people and injuring more than 20 others, according to city and oblast officials. The strike collapsed several upper floors and trapped residents inside. Firefighters carried people down from the top stories while a second strike hit a neighboring building.

A missile through the upper floors

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported the strike on Saltivka shortly after 07:00. He said Russia had hit a multi-apartment residential building. Minutes later he confirmed the blast destroyed floors 7 through 10, with wounded people inside.

Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration, first described a Russian drone strike that killed two. His administration later clarified that a missile hit the high-rise, and that Russia also struck an office building nearby.

Residents were trapped behind the collapse, and crews began a rescue operation. Firefighters brought seven people down from the upper floors, the State Emergency Service reported. The destroyed ceilings sat between the seventh and tenth floors.

As the rescue got underway, Russia struck again. Terekhov said a neighboring high-rise was hit, writing that Russia "is deliberately striking residential buildings" and urging people to shelter. A third impact followed in one of the district's parks.

Russia regularly employs the double-tap tactic — striking a site, then hitting it again once rescuers arrive — to maximize casualties among first responders.

Two dead, 21 wounded, a boy of five among them

Terekhov counted a dozen wounded at first, then confirmed two people killed at the site. Syniehubov gave the fuller account: two men, aged 50 and 66, killed, and at least 21 people injured.

Among the wounded was a five-year-old boy. 11 people suffered blast injuries and two had carbon monoxide poisoning. Another eight, including a child, had acute stress reactions, and medics hospitalized four.

By late morning, Syniehubov said crews were still clearing the collapsed floors to be sure no one remained underneath. Specialists would then judge whether the building could still be used.

A day of strikes across the oblast

Over the past 24 hours, Russia struck Kharkiv and 12 settlements across the oblast, killing three people and wounding or shocking 25, the regional administration said.

In Izium, shelling injured eight people. Russia killed a 68-year-old man in Kivsharivka, near Kupiansk, and wounded a 47-year-old woman in Mykhailivka. In Lozova, a 60-year-old woman was hurt, and a transit evacuation point there took in 227 more people.

A Russian cruise missile crossed deep into Poland and crashed in a field during Russia's mass overnight strike on Ukraine, Polish and Ukrainian officials said. Warsaw says it scrambled a fighter jet and was ready to shoot the missile down had it flown on. The same barrage killed civilians across Ukraine and sent hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles at its cities.

A Kh-101 crossed nearly 100 km into Poland

In the early hours of 30 July, a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile flew into Poland and came down about 95 km from the Ukrainian border, the Ukrainian defense outlet Militarnyi reported. 

Poland's Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz called it an extremely difficult night for the country's air defense and said an unidentified object had fallen in a field.

The missile in Poland was one of 74 missiles and 265 drones that Russia fired at Ukraine overnight — 61 Kh-101 and Kalibr cruise missiles, four Zircon and Onyx, and nine ballistic Iskander-M, S-400, and KN-23. 

Ukraine's acting Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha noted that the Kh-101 missile crossed into Poland, called it a violation of NATO airspace, and said Kyiv is informing partners and international organizations about the attack.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk later said everything indicated it was a Kh-101, and that Polish forces were ready to shoot it down had it continued deeper.

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Poland scrambled a jet and tracked the missile

During the attack, Poland's Operational Command set out the sequence. 

• Around 03:29 Polish time, one object came within about 5 km of the border, then turned away. 
• At 3:40, radar caught an unidentified object moving west over Polish territory, and an F-16 went up to identify and intercept it. At 3:46, it vanished from the screens before it could be identified. 
• Sirens sounded for Lublin and much of the voivodeship only around 3:50. 
• A helicopter crew later located the probable crash site in open ground near Tarnawa-Kolonia, in Lublin Voivodeship. 

Ukrainian monitoring channels eRadar and Strategic Aviation placed a cruise missile over Poland at 04:40 Kyiv time, equal to 03:40 in Warsaw. The monitoring channel Strategic Aviation tracked it over Lublin Voivodeship, which borders Ukraine's Volyn Oblast.

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At least eight civilians killed in Ukraine during the same attack

In Ukraine, one of the Russian missiles killed a family — parents and three children — in a direct hit on their home near Kryvyi Rih, while rescuers pulled two more children from the rubble alive. In Lviv, western Ukraine, another missile destroyed apartments, injured dozens including children, and damaged two kindergartens and a school. Russia's strike killed at least eight people across Ukraine and injured dozens, with civilian casualties in Kyiv, Poltava, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Vinnytsia, and Cherkasy.

Not the first Russian missile over Poland

This was not the first Russian cruise missile to cross into Poland. In 2023, a Kh-55 flew several hundred kilometers over Polish territory before it fell near Bydgoszcz. Earlier in July, the Polish outlet Onet, citing intelligence and diplomatic sources, warned that Poland could become a target of Russian provocations meant to test NATO's resolve, with strikes on critical infrastructure among the scenarios named.

Ukraine has detained the chief organizer of the defense industry event struck by a Russian ballistic missile in Kyiv Oblast on 24 July, as investigators examine whether security failures contributed to an attack that killed 10 people and injured about 100.

Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko stressed that Russia alone bears responsibility for the strike, calling it another war crime, while saying investigators are also examining circumstances that may have increased the scale of the tragedy.

"Russia committed this war crime," Kravchenko said. "But the investigation is also establishing the circumstances that may have increased the scale of this tragedy."

Investigation focuses on event organization

According to the Prosecutor General's Office, an arms industry association organized the event without approval from the military command or regional and district military administrations.

Investigators say more than 300 people were invited to the outdoor demonstration, which featured Ukrainian air defense technologies and other defense systems. The nearest bomb shelter, measuring just 34 square meters, was located about 100 meters from the venue.

Authorities said invitations were distributed nine days before the event, while the exact location and time were shared with confirmed participants one day before it took place. Investigators are examining whether those arrangements could have enabled Russia to prepare a targeted missile strike.

The event's chief organizer has been detained on suspicion of official negligence resulting in grave consequences. Prosecutors said searches were carried out at the association's office and the homes of individuals involved in organizing the event.

Kravchenko said investigators will also assess whether officials from the National Police, Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), military command, state authorities, or local governments failed to respond appropriately to potential security risks.

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Association rejects claims of public disclosure

The ARMADA Association, which organized the demonstration, said it would fully cooperate with investigators but rejected claims that the venue had been publicly advertised.

In a statement, the association said the event was a closed practical demonstration for representatives of Ukraine's defense industry and potential users of anti-aircraft and counter-drone technologies.

It said the exact location was never publicly disclosed and was shared only with registered and vetted participants. The association also disputed online claims that promotional materials circulating on social media were public announcements, saying they were invitations distributed through closed channels.

ARMADA said the demonstration required an open area because participants were testing air defense, electronic warfare, radar, and drone interception systems under realistic conditions.

The association urged the public not to share photographs, videos, participant information, or the exact location while the investigation is ongoing.

Russia's strike killed 10 and injured 100

Russia launched the daytime ballistic missile attack on 24 July, striking the event in Bucha district, Kyiv Oblast. The attack killed 10 people, injured around 100 others, and damaged dozens of nearby homes and vehicles.

Ukraine's Air Force said Russia launched three ballistic missiles during the attack. Air defenses intercepted one, while two struck Bucha district.

Kyiv Oblast observed a day of mourning on 25 July in memory of those killed, with flags lowered across the region and entertainment events restricted.