The greatness of the attack on Ukraine is impossible to grasp. Let me show you the horror of a day | Oleksandr mykhed

dThis is 1,254 invaded; July 31, 2025, Kiev, 4.30 am. The alarm for the air strike has just begun. I woke up from the roar and rumble of the Rockets. It’s a sound that makes you want to escape from the original horror.

Time slows down. I rolled over in the bed and hugged my girlfriend Dasha, and half again, we fell gently to the floor. Instead of thinking or reflecting, I was guided by instinct – away from the windows and put our contours as low as possible. I covered Dasha with my body. She only has time to ask for: “Dog? Where is the dog?” Under the bed, we can hear the rustling of the old chihuahua claws.

five Iskander-K cruise missile Falling from the sky. In turn. Like a huge knife, swaying between the ribs of the city. A fatal force that cannot be stopped. The sound of the explosion comes from different parts of the city, leaving us completely helpless. Nothing hidden.

Two hours before the shelling, I arranged my clothes and placed the emergency bag in the hallway. just in case. For example, this is not a rational decision based on warnings from the analysis group. But you can feel the bombardment is coming. It will happen today or tomorrow. Thousands of small Russians “had no effect on anything” and will repeat a convenient narrative in court that it is “Putin’s war” that has created new ones Shahed Drone and missiles.

According to Russia’s new strategy, every night, it first sends hundreds of drones to one or several Ukrainian cities, thus exhausting air defenses, destroying civilian infrastructure and intimidating civilians. Then, Russian missiles ended the already bleeding city after they chased them.

On the day in late July, four and a half hours after the explosion, the full clear sirens after Shahed’s attack were 3.18 am. After a comprehensive clarity, the Kiev residents hiding in the shelter, returned home to sleep on a tired night. After waiting for an hour and expecting the maximum loss, the Russians launched missile strikes on the sleeping city.

In the fourth year of the invasion, I didn’t know how to write about the shelling of my hometown. Photos of destroyed buildings on social media are no longer capable of shocking. The subject and angle of the photo have become ordinary.

But if our empathy has indeed worn down on Nub, why is it still so hurtful? The injury was because it felt as if the number of Russian shellings devalued the sadness and losses associated with each attack. Russia’s actions reinforce the idea that this is the new normality now Ukraine.

I don’t know how to write these attacks, but I’m sure the situation gets worse.

Statistics show that last year, in July 2024, Russia launched more than 400 drones on Ukraine. A year later, in July this year, it launched more than 6,400 UAVs and Missiles. Look Infographic This can see this comparison and try to understand the ridiculous figures that have increased by 1,380% recently, I’m lost.

There are so many Russian drones now that they have removed the smallest components of the infrastructure. It feels like this is a battleship game where they will have destroyed the ships on both decks. And, of course, they deliberately destroyed high-rise residential buildings with civilians inside.

We know exactly when the situation worsens: after Donald Trump came to power. For the Trump 2.0 world, the unproven promise of peace is already equated with peace. But the war did not stop temporarily. Things got worse. Ukrainian data news website TEXTY.ORG.UA analyzed After Trump’s inauguration, Russian missiles and Schach’s strikes were on the 12 frontline and adjacent areas. Two months ago, the Odesa area was hit twice. Two months later, there were more than twenty strikes.

this United Nations Report In June 2025, Ukraine recorded the largest number of civilian casualties in three years – 232 killed and 1,343 injured. Civilians were killed or injured in Keefe and at least 16 areas. In the first half of 2025, the total number of civilians killed and injured was 6,754:54% higher than the same period last year.

The same thing was happening on the ground, where the infantry was digging into it. Where is the front line? According to Deepstate Monitoring Group, which analyses the frontline changes, Russia has taken Nearly 1,300 square kilometers Ukrainian territory was in the first five months of this year. In June alone, it was put on hold 556 square kilometers Ukrainian territory. How much is that? Imagine that six months later, the Russians captured a larger area than Greater London. Or in June alone, they took over the territory equivalent of five Parises.

The Trump administration brings Russia back to the tableinitiate talks with terrorist countries. But in Russia’s eyes, the West and Trump are particularly constantly showing weakness. The Kremlin only knows about power and if its political opponents are unable to implement any of its threats, Russia will expand its political, economic and information foothold. Its strategic communication – the missiles and the Shah people – will speak for itself.

On that day in July, Russia launched 309 Shahed drones and eight cruise missiles. Among them, 288 Shahed drones and three Iskander-K missiles were shot down.

I don’t know how to describe the barrage of this kind of explosion: 21 beats were performed at 12 locations, and fragments of missiles were shot down at 19 locations.

I don’t know how to describe tachycardia that started with the first explosion and drowns the heart for hours in this crazy rhythm. 159 people were injured, including 16 children.

I don’t know how to find these words to describe what we seem to have seen hundreds of times, but every time it’s like it’s never been hurt like it is now. Thirty-one were killed: Five children, the youngest two children.

My friend posted a black and white photo of 42-year-old IT expert Vitaly, who was killed along with his 18-year-old daughters Vlada and Dog Spike. Iryna is a mother, her two daughters, Anastasia, a ninth grader, and Alina, a sixth grader, were killed. Preschool teacher Natalia died with her two sons (17 and 22) and her brother. Matviy, who has been doing karate for a year and a half, was also killed.

Our lives have long become endless news feeds of these losses. Our memories are trying to record names and facts, but our consciousness is black pain. This is just part of Russia’s efforts,Ukraine should not be alive. ”

The July 31 bombardment was preceded by the week’s rain – thunderstorms and bright lightning, thunderstorms I’ve never seen before, and with every flash of light in the sky, I felt my body twisted to prepare for the strike. Then I realized that this is a state of war in which our bodies and consciousness work. They try to adapt, survive and prepare for the next strike. To survive, but at what cost?