Russia launches largest attack on Kyiv of the war, killing at least 21 with mass drone and missile barrage

Attack overview

In the early hours of 2 July 2026, Russian forces launched the largest aerial assault on Kyiv since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Nearly 500 drones and 74 missiles, including long-range precision weapons fired from air, land and sea, hammered the capital during an 11-hour air alert. Entire sections of residential buildings collapsed, an ambulance depot was hit, and fires broke out across the city. Other cities such as Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia also came under fire. Moscow’s defence ministry said the operation was a response to Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy infrastructure.

Human toll

At least 21 people were killed and more than 85 injured, among them two children, though some sources put the death toll at 25. Rescue teams recovered bodies from the debris as residents sheltered in metro stations. Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko declared 3 July a day of mourning. Tymur Tkachenko, head of the capital’s military administration, wrote on Telegram that “the enemy once again deliberately targeted residential areas and killed civilians.” A Ukrainian Red Cross warehouse containing humanitarian aid was destroyed, and local publisher BookChef reported the loss of roughly 800,000 books in a logistics fire.

“The enemy once again deliberately targeted residential areas and killed civilians.”

Political reactions

President Volodymyr Zelensky, who had cut short a visit to Dublin after intelligence indicated a major strike was imminent, toured the bombing sites and declared that Ukraine would “assuredly” retaliate. He called on allies to supply more air defence systems and to grant a licence so Ukraine could produce Patriot missiles. “Russia hits civilian targets only to force Ukraine to renounce its state,” he said. “That’s what it has gambled on throughout the war. It won’t happen.”

“Russia hits civilian targets only to force Ukraine to renounce its state. That’s what it has gambled on throughout the war. It won’t happen.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told journalists that Russia would “continue to increase pressure on the Kyiv regime” until its objectives were met. In Washington, a US official said President Donald Trump “wishes for this war to end and the senseless killings to stop,” a rare comment on the conflict from a White House focused on the Middle East.

“Russia will continue to increase pressure on the Kyiv regime to achieve its objectives.”

International response

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas announced she would propose new sanctions against “entities supporting Russia’s military-industrial complex.” “We will keep raising the pressure until Russia understands it cannot win,” she wrote on X. Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha pleaded with partners not to delay decisions on air defence, calling it “our main request after a night of horror in Kyiv.” The barrage comes days before a NATO summit in Ankara, where Kyiv hopes to secure further military assistance.