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‘Massive’ Russian strikes kill 17 in Kyiv, Zelenskyy says, as no missiles intercepted

Thick black smoke engulfs buildings on the outskirts of Kyiv following a Russian ballistic missile attack on the capital on August 5, 2026 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Photo by Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images)

(LONDON) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday that at least 17 people were killed in Kyiv and the surrounding region in a massive overnight Russian missile and drone strike, with Ukraine’s air force failing to intercept any missiles amid a shortage of air defense munitions.

Ukraine’s air force said in a post to Telegram that Russia launched 115 drones and 28 missiles — 24 ballistic missiles and four anti-ship missiles — into the country overnight, of which 98 drones were intercepted.

None of the missiles were shot down, the air force said citing “preliminary data,” reporting missile and drone impacts across 26 locations.

Zelenskyy said in a post to Telegram that the “massive” and “devastating” attack killed at least 17 people. At least another 44 people were injured in the attack, Zelenskyy added.

“The main targets of the attack were storage facilities belonging to civilian enterprises, but there were also strikes on infrastructure and a railway station,” Zelenskyy said. “The targets included entities unrelated to the war: a brewery, warehouses for building materials and civilian logistics facilities.”

“Ballistic missile interceptors — these are what could have saved the lives of those who died today,” Zelenskyy wrote. “It is crucial that our partners understand that delays in their supply or a reluctance to provide anti-ballistic systems leads to precisely these horrific casualties and destruction.”

“A significant portion of Russian ballistic missile production is not currently under sanctions. This needs to change. New steps are needed from the G7, from the EU, from everyone who supports the protection of life,” Zelenskyy wrote.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement posted to Telegram that its “massive strike” targeted what it said were “transport, logistics and distribution centers in the city of Kyiv and the Kyiv region.”

The ministry said that storage and distribution facilities for drone components and electronic warfare systems were among the targets struck, as were three cargo ships.

The ministry also said that Russian forces shot down at least 475 Ukrainian drones overnight into Wednesday morning.

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SpaceX plans to build the ‘biggest launch site on Earth’ for $100 billion in Louisiana

By CNN
(CNN) — SpaceX on Tuesday unveiled plans to construct a massive, $100 billion spaceport in Louisiana, where the company plans to launch its gargantuan Starship rocket thousands of times per year.Construction of the spaceport is expected to begin by the end of next year near the southern coast of Louisiana’s Vermilion Parish, with the first launch targeted as soon as 2029, according to an economic development website.Such a development would mark a dramatic shift for SpaceX and the US rocket industry — making Louisiana, which has never before hosted an orbital launch, perhaps the busiest launch hub on the planet.The new SpaceX campus will be dubbed “Starbase, Louisiana” — borrowing the name of SpaceX’s recently incorporated company town in South Texas. Starbase, Texas, is the current home to Starship’s testing and development facilities and the spot from which 13 test flights have launched to varying degrees of success.The Louisiana location, however, would host flights of the Starship rocket once its operational, having proven it can safely haul cargo to orbit. SpaceX also plans to land and recover every piece of its Starship rockets — including the upper spacecraft, which has never been done before — in order to allow the rockets to be rapidly reused and drive down the cost of each launch.That means Louisiana would not only become a hub for launches, but it would become home to numerous towers — standing hundreds of feet tall — that would be used to recapture rockets and spacecraft as they return from space.“Starbase Louisiana will ultimately have over a dozen launch towers, enabling more than 30 Starship flights per day and making it the biggest launch site on Earth!” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on his social media platform, X, on Tuesday.During an announcement event in Louisiana Tuesday, SpaceX’s chief operating officer, Gwynne Shotwell, also described the project as “a self-sustaining spaceport with its own propellant production, power generation, deep water shipping capabilities, vehicle processing facilities, and probably an airport.”Louisiana’s ‘worst kept secret’SpaceX had been quietly working on its spaceport plans alongside Louisiana elected officials for months. Company leaders have traveled to the state to scope out potential locations, prompting one local news outlet to refer to the project as the state’s “worst kept secret.”State governor Jeff Landry, a Republican, billed the project as an offer of “a permanent future and lasting prosperity.”“For generations, industries came to Louisiana not to build lasting prosperity, but to extract wealth,” Landry said. “Too often, Louisiana was left with the scars, while others enjoyed the profit. Today, what Elon Musk and his team is offering Louisiana is different.”Much about the plans remain to be seen. Starship is not yet operational. The company is expected to launch its most important test flight to date as soon as September — a mission that could send the rocket to orbit for the first time. Additional testing will be necessary to sort out how the rocket’s upper stage can be landed and flown again.A spaceport of such size and scale as the Louisiana project will also likely face extensive regulatory reviews: “The project will go through all applicable environmental, wetlands, natural resource and launch-related reviews,” a project website confirms.Such reviews related to SpaceX’s facilities in Texas — a far smaller complex than the planned Louisiana site — took nearly a decade to complete. And some local environmental advocacy groups continue to battle the company in Texas courts over the impacts of rocket testing on the community.Shotwell said Tuesday that SpaceX plans to keep “very large portions” of Starbase Louisiana’s 125,000 acres of land “untouched, so that high-value wetlands stay habitat and don’t become infrastructure.”“We will help fund protection, restoration, and stewardship while we build,” Shotwell said.The announcement is the latest in a long list of displays of confidence that Starship will transform SpaceX as a company. Already, SpaceX has said it’s begun to phase out use of its workhorse Falcon 9 rockets, which are currently the most prolific launch vehicles in the world, in favor of using Starship for most missions once it becomes operational.Earlier on Tuesday, SpaceX’s vice president of launch, Kiko Dontchev, said a Falcon 9 rocket that took flight the same morning would be the last ever to carry SpaceX Starlink satellites from Florida — an area due East of Orlando that is currently home to the world’s busiest spaceport across Kennedy Space Center and the Cape Canaveral Space Force Center.“From here on, Starlink missions out of Florida will fly on Starship,” Dontchev said. “The West Coast team will continue regularly launching Starlink from Vandenberg. Super proud of this incredible team. You’ve made Falcon 9 the most reliable launch vehicle in history. You also helped build the largest low-Earth orbit satellite constellation providing connectivity to millions around the world, and you’ve set the foundation for what’s next.”SpaceX’s plans include continuing to fly Starship out of Texas, and it may begin flights from Florida as soon as this year. But the envisioned plans for Louisiana would make it by far the largest base of operations for the rocket.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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