On July 13, 2025, Russia intensified its military operations against Ukraine, launching a series of drone and missile strikes across multiple regions, marking one of the deadliest phases of the ongoing conflict. These attacks, part of Russia’s ongoing invasion that began in February 2022, targeted both military and civilian infrastructure, resulting in significant casualties and damage. This article provides a detailed account of the day’s events, drawing on reports from Ukrainian and international sources, to inform readers of www.nriglobe.com about the latest developments in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Overview of the Attacks
Massive Drone Assault
On the night of July 12 into July 13, 2025, Russia launched a large-scale drone attack, deploying 60 Shahed strike drones and various decoy drones across Ukraine. According to Ukraine’s Air Force, 20 of these drones were successfully shot down by Ukrainian air defenses. The drones targeted multiple regions, including Donbas, Sumy, Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, Kherson, Lviv, Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Rivne, and Dnipropetrovsk. This assault followed a pattern of intensified Russian aerial attacks, with a record 728 drones and 13 missiles reported just days earlier on July 9, 2025.
Specific Incidents
- Sloviansk, Donetsk Region: Russian forces attacked Sloviansk with Geran-2 drones around midnight, damaging a kindergarten, a clinical hospital, multi-storey buildings, and private homes in the Center and Zaliznychnyi districts. No casualties were reported in this specific attack, though a prior attack on July 12 in the same city killed one person and wounded three.
- Chernivtsi Region: A Russian drone and missile strike in the Bukovina area of Chernivtsi, near the Romanian border, killed two people—a 26-year-old woman and a 43-year-old man—and wounded 14 others. This was part of Russia’s fourth major attack on Ukraine in July 2025.
- Novomoskovsk, Dnipropetrovsk Region: A morning attack by Geranium drones damaged a shopping mall and targeted a territorial recruitment center, though specific casualty details were not reported.
- Sumy Region: Russian forces struck the Sumy community, with reports indicating ongoing military engagements in areas like Yunakovka and Kondratovka. A previous attack on July 12 killed two residents in the Velykochernechchyna area.
- Military Targets: The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed its forces conducted precision strikes on Ukrainian military-industrial complexes, including enterprises in Lviv, Kharkiv, and Lutsk, as well as a military airfield and a UAV operator training center. Eight electronic warfare radars, an ammunition depot, and three military equipment depots were reportedly destroyed.
Casualties and Damage
The attacks caused significant loss of life and infrastructure damage:
- At least two people were killed in Chernivtsi, with 14 wounded.
- In Kharkiv, three people were injured in a separate drone and missile attack.
- Civilian infrastructure, including a kindergarten, hospital, shopping mall, and residential buildings, was damaged across multiple regions.
- Ukrainian air defenses neutralized 344 aerial targets, including 319 drones and 25 cruise missiles, during a large-scale Russian attack on July 12, demonstrating the intensity of the aerial bombardment.
Military Developments
Russian forces reported progress in several areas:
- Sumy Region: Units of the Russian “North group” defeated Ukrainian tank, mechanized, and amphibious assault brigades in areas like Pisarevka, Korchakovka, and Yunakovka.
- Zaporizhia Region: The Russian “Dnepr group” targeted a mountain assault brigade and an air defense brigade in Novoandreevka and Stepnogorsk.
- Novoselovsky Direction: The Russian Ministry of Defense announced the liberation of the settlement of Mirnoye (Karl Marx) in the Novoselovsky area, indicating territorial gains.
- Ukrainian forces reported repelling multiple Russian assaults in the Novopavlivka, Orikhiv, and Prydniprovske directions, with 186 combat engagements recorded on July 12.
Broader Context
The July 13 attacks are part of an escalating Russian strategy to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses and disrupt logistical hubs, particularly in western Ukraine, which serves as a critical corridor for Western aid. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the intensified shelling as an attempt to make “people suffer and flee Ukraine, to see houses, schools—life itself—destroyed.” Russian sources, meanwhile, claimed the strikes targeted Ukraine’s military-industrial complex to weaken its defense capabilities.
The escalation coincides with geopolitical shifts. U.S. President Donald Trump, frustrated with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s refusal to negotiate, announced plans to resume weapons shipments to Ukraine, reversing a prior suspension.
