At least 27 dead and over 90 injured in deadliest Russian attack on Kyiv this year

The assault

Russian forces struck Kyiv with a combined barrage of 74 missiles and 496 drones in an 11-hour operation that began late on 1 July and stretched into the early hours of 2 July. The attack unfolded in successive waves: an opening salvo of drones, followed by a mass launch of ballistic and cruise missiles, and a final wave of Kh-101 missiles and dozens of drones just before dawn. Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said the number of ballistic missiles was unusually high and the interception rate very low, as Ukraine has faced shortages of Patriot missiles for months.

Casualties and destruction

The strikes killed at least 27 people and injured more than 90, according to Timur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv military administration. Earlier reports had placed the toll at 13–18, but the figure continued to rise as rescue crews searched the rubble. Among the dead were children, and workers pulled survivors from a partially collapsed nine-storey residential building in the Desnianskyi district.

It was a terrible night for Kyiv.

Damage was recorded in every district of the capital. At least 33 targets were hit, including apartment blocks, a hotel on a central avenue, an ambulance station, and a research institute. Mayor Klitschko declared 3 July a day of mourning and called the attack the most massive geographically that the city had endured.

Zelensky’s plea for air defence

President Volodymyr Zelensky cut short his visit to Ireland and returned to Ukraine immediately after the attack. Standing beside a damaged building, he blamed allies for not delivering promised air defence systems on time.

If our partners had implemented their promises on time, I think we would have saved more homes and lives today. The only thing we ask from our partners is simply to do what we agreed. We don’t ask for more.

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha urged Western partners to urgently reinforce Ukraine’s air defence and tighten sanctions on Moscow, warning that condemnation alone is no longer enough.

Russia’s justification

Russia’s defence ministry described the strike as a “massive attack with long-range precision weapons” and attack drones, saying it targeted military and energy facilities, as well as airfields, in Kyiv and other regions. The Kremlin said the operation was retaliation for recent Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian civilian infrastructure. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov added that Moscow would continue to increase pressure on Kyiv until its military objectives are met.

Russia cannot remain indifferent to such moves.

Wider context

Ukraine has intensified long-range drone strikes inside Russia over the past month, focusing on oil refineries and energy sites. On the same night as the Kyiv assault, Ukraine claimed to have hit one of Russia’s largest oil refineries. Several Russian regions are now experiencing fuel shortages. The tit-for-tat air war underscores the escalating pace of strikes on both sides, with civilians in Kyiv paying the heaviest price.