Kharkiv drone strike kills seven ahead of White House talks

A deadly drone attack in Kharkiv unfolds as Zelenskyy prepares to meet Trump and European leaders in Washington.

Russian drone strike in Kharkiv kills seven ahead of White House talks

Kharkiv was hit late Sunday by a Russian drone strike that killed seven people, including two children, and damaged an apartment building on the fifth floor. Ukrainian authorities say five Shahed drones were involved and that an entire family died in the blast.

Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia launched 140 drones and four missiles overnight, with 88 drones shot down or suppressed. Attacks were recorded in 25 locations across Donetsk, Kharkiv, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa and Kyiv regions; in the south, Zaporizhzhia authorities reported three deaths and at least 23 injuries from missile strikes.

Zelenskyy and his aides have used Telegram to condemn the strikes as cynical ahead of a White House meeting with Trump and other leaders. The broader toll for July 2025 was high, with 286 civilians killed and 1,388 injured, according to UN monitors. Through August, the pace of attacks has eased somewhat, though Ukraine still counts a steady flow of drones and missiles, and Russia claims to have shot down thousands of Ukrainian drones this month.

The strikes underscoring this week’s news cycle show how diplomacy remains tightly linked to battlefield realities. The Kharkiv attack signals that political signaling can come at a steep civilian cost, and that a high-profile meeting in Washington may not change the underlying dynamics on the ground.

As Washington hosts talks aimed at ending the war, the violence risks polarizing domestic and international support. If civilian tolls rise, public pressure could constrain leaders on both sides and complicate negotiations, no matter what concessions are on the table.

Highlights

Diplomacy moves quickly when the streets stay unstable.