Russia Fires Some 40 Missiles at Kyiv, Buildings Destroyed

The new wave of Russian strikes on Kyiv is no distant story for Belgrade, because every escalation in eastern Europe moves energy markets, gas prices and the political climate in which Serbia conducts its accession talks and defends its declared military neutrality. When around 40 missiles, including ballistic Iskander-M and hypersonic Zircons, streaked toward the Ukrainian capital before dawn, the geopolitical reality showed once again that the front line is no longer confined to the Donbas, but that the war now cuts across every European table where the sanctions regime is decided.

In the capital itself, several buildings were destroyed, and rescue teams spent hours clearing rubble and underground passages damaged by the blast wave. It was one of the heaviest overnight assaults in recent months, one that drained already thinning stocks of ammunition for Ukraine’s air defenses. The mix of ballistic and hypersonic projectiles was no accident: Moscow is testing the limits of Western interception systems and signaling that it can strike the center of Kyiv despite years of weapons deliveries from European Union countries and the United States.

The attacks, however, do not stop at the capital. A Russian guided air-bomb strike on Zaporizhzhia killed at least three civilians on July 21, confirming that Russian aviation is systematically hitting cities near the front with glide bombs of enormous destructive power. Each such strike further strains Ukrainian infrastructure and deepens a humanitarian crisis that, through the grain corridor and refugee flows, indirectly reaches southeastern Europe as well.

Is the front moving onto Russian soil?

The answer coming from Kyiv is yes. Ukrainian drones hit a warehouse of the retail company Wildberries in Krasnodar on July 22, sparking fires and causing injuries, with Kyiv making clear that the war is no longer one-directional and that the Russian rear is not untouchable. Strikes on logistics and industrial sites deep inside the Russian Federation have become part of Ukraine’s strategy to raise the cost of the war for its adversary and to disrupt supply to the fronts.

That logic is now framed by a new military leadership as well. New armed forces chief Mihajlo Drapatij announced stepped-up retaliation operations against Russian forces, signaling that Kyiv does not intend to slide into a purely defensive posture despite the pressure on its cities. His statement, delivered while rubble was still being cleared from Kyiv’s streets, is an attempt to restore a sense of initiative in Ukrainian ranks after a difficult night.

Why does this cycle of escalation matter for Serbia?

For Serbia, which maintains a diplomatic channel toward both Moscow and Brussels, every such strike means renewed pressure on a delicate balance. The EU’s High Representative and leading member states, among them France and Germany, use every escalation as an argument for a tougher sanctions regime, while Belgrade is expected to align its foreign policy ever more clearly with the European perspective. A war now waged both over Kyiv and over Krasnodar is not solely a Ukrainian matter: it once again redraws the lines of what European chancelleries consider acceptable, and Serbia is part of that conversation whether it wants to be or not.

What do you think, can the announced Ukrainian retaliation change the course of the war, or are both sides leading us toward an even longer and costlier escalation?