Russian missile and drone barrage kills at least 10 across Kyiv, Dnipro and Kharkiv
Russia launched one of its largest aerial assaults of the war overnight, firing 73 missiles and 656 drones at cities across Ukraine, killing at least 10 people and wounding roughly 100.
The overnight assault
Russia launched what Ukrainian officials described as one of the most massive attacks of the entire war in the early hours of 2 June, firing 73 missiles (33 of them ballistic) and 656 long-range drones at targets across the country. The Ukrainian Air Force reported that air defences intercepted 40 missiles and 602 drones, but 33 missiles and a similar number of drones struck 38 locations, with falling debris causing damage at another 15 sites. Explosions were heard in central Kyiv, and dense smoke columns rose over several districts as dawn broke.
Casualties and damage in Kyiv
In the capital, at least four people were killed and 51 wounded, including three children, according to mayor Vitali Klitschko. Thirty-five of the injured required hospitalisation. A missile strike on a 24-storey residential building in the Podilskyi district caused a partial collapse, and rescue teams worked through the night fearing people were trapped under the rubble. Fires broke out across at least seven districts, including near a kindergarten in the Obolon district, where cars burned after being hit by falling debris. Thousands of residents sheltered in metro stations.
All emergency services are working to mitigate the consequences of the attack.
Dnipro and Kharkiv hit
Dnipro, in central-eastern Ukraine, suffered the heaviest toll outside the capital. Regional governor Oleksandr Ganzha confirmed five dead and 25 wounded, among them a 13-year-old girl and three people in serious condition. Several apartment blocks were destroyed, vehicles were burned out, and a children's playground was damaged. Another three people were wounded in the nearby city of Kamianske. In Kharkiv, mayor Igor Terekhov reported that 15 Shahed drones and two missiles struck four districts, wounding at least 10 people including one child.
The toll from the Russian attack on Dnipro continues to rise.
A forewarned offensive
The assault came after days of public warnings from Ukrainian intelligence and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who said in his evening address on 1 June that a massive attack was being prepared. The Kremlin had announced in late May that it intended to begin systematic strikes on decision-making centres in Kyiv, and advised foreign diplomats to leave the city. This was the first large-scale attack on the capital since that announcement.
The intelligence warnings about Russian attacks remain in effect. A massive attack is possible; they have prepared it.
Wider impact and Russian side
Brief power cuts and water supply disruptions were reported in Kyiv. On the Russian side, a fire broke out at the Ilski oil refinery in the Krasnodar region, which the regional operational headquarters attributed to a Ukrainian drone attack. Moscow has been bombarding Ukraine almost nightly and has recently intensified its daytime strikes as well.
- Kremlin announces intention to begin systematic strikes on decision-making centres in Kyiv, advises foreign diplomats to leave.
- President Zelenskiy warns in evening address that a massive Russian attack is being prepared, urges residents to heed air-raid alerts.
- Russia launches 73 missiles and 656 drones at cities across Ukraine; air-raid alerts sound across most of the country.
- Strikes hit Kyiv, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia and Poltava; residential buildings hit, fires break out, thousands shelter in metro stations.
- Provisional casualty toll reaches at least 10 dead and roughly 100 wounded; rescue operations continue at collapsed Kyiv apartment block.
