Russia intensified its aerial campaign against Ukraine, launching what Ukrainian officials said was a record overnight attack of 400 Shahed-type drones and one ballistic missile on 16 July. The barrage targeted energy infrastructure in Kharkiv, Kryvyi Rih and Vinnytsia, wounding at least 15 people and knocking out electricity for roughly 80,000 households, according to grid operator DTEK. Ukraine’s air force reported shooting down most of the drones, but said 57 of them and the missile struck 12 sites, prompting President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to seek additional air-defence systems. Before repairs were completed, Russia followed up before dawn on 21 July with another wave of drones, cruise and ballistic missiles—among them a Kh-47 Kinzhal—aimed at central and western regions including Kyiv. Local authorities said sirens sounded for more than six hours as fires broke out in residential blocks, a nursery and a metro entrance; at least one person was killed and another hospitalised in the capital. The back-to-back assaults underscore Moscow’s shift toward large-scale drone swarms accompanied by precision missiles after more than three years of full-scale war. London and Berlin said they would supply new air-defence batteries, while U.S. President Donald Trump cited the drone onslaught in approving additional weapons for Kyiv. The United Nations recorded 232 civilian deaths in June, the highest monthly toll in three years, a trend Ukrainian officials say is likely to worsen unless air-defence capacity is reinforced.