Russian forces launch massive missile and drone attack on Ukraine's Kryvyi Rih

Russian forces launched a massive attack on Kryvyi Rih in the Dnipropetrovsk region of Ukraine on the night of July 15 to 16, using kamikaze drones and a missile — the heaviest assault on the city since the start of the war.

“Late last night and into this morning, the enemy carried out the most massive attack on Kryvyi Rih since the beginning of the war. A ballistic missile and 28 Shahed drones were used simultaneously,” the Southern Defence Forces said in a statement, Caliber.Az reports, citing Ukrainian media.

A large number of strikes destroyed an industrial facility. Fortunately, there were no casualties among the staff, as they were in shelters during the alert.

“Infrastructure was damaged. Several districts of the city lost power. One civilian was injured,” the Ukrainian Armed Forces added.

Russia’s use of Iranian-designed Shahed-136/131 drones (Russian designation: Geran-2) has surged since September 2022, with production scaled up at Russia’s IEMZ Kupol facility and enhanced by Chinese components (CSIS, May 13, 2025). Costing $20,000–$80,000 each, Shaheds are cheap, enabling Russia to launch swarms to overwhelm Ukrainian air defences, which rely on costly Patriot missiles. Since September 2024, Russia has increased launches from 200 to over 1,000 per week, often using decoys to confuse defences.

By Khagan Isayev