KYIV – Russia fired hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles at the Ukrainian capital Kiev in the early hours of July 2, destroying several residential buildings and killing at least 18 people and wounding dozens.
Multiple explosions shook central Kiev and echoed throughout the capital overnight as thousands of residents rushed into air raid shelters and metro stations.
The attack caused the largest amount of destruction in Kiev so far this year and was the deadliest since at least May, when 24 people were killed in the destruction of an apartment complex.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who rushed home after cutting short a visit to Ireland, said damage had been reported in more than 20 locations across the capital.
“The main attack was directed at Kiev,” he said. “Air defense supplies to Ukraine are an absolute, critical priority,” he said, calling on Ukraine’s allies to maintain contributions to a fund to buy U.S.-made weapons, including Patriot air defense missiles, for Ukraine.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia launched 74 missiles and 496 drones overnight. Air Force spokesman Yuri Inat said the number of ballistic missiles was unusually high and the interception rate was low. Ukraine has been suffering from a shortage of Patriot missiles in recent months.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense said in a Telegram post that “massive attacks” using long-range, high-precision air, land and sea-launched weapons and drones hit military and energy facilities, as well as airports in Kiev and other cities.
The Russian government said the attack was in retaliation for Ukraine’s drone attack on Russia. Kiev has stepped up strikes against Russia’s domestic fuel supplies in recent weeks, announcing an attack on a refinery in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region overnight, with the governor reporting one person was killed in a strike on an industrial facility.
The Kremlin said Russian military commanders had briefed President Vladimir Putin about the Russian attack, adding that Russia would continue to increase pressure on Ukraine to achieve its war objectives.
Day of mourning announced in Kyiv
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko announced that July 3rd will be a day of mourning in Kyiv. The mayor said damage was recorded throughout the city of about 3 million people, with several buildings severely damaged.
Katarina Maternova, the EU’s ambassador to Ukraine, said Russia “overnight unleashed hell on Kiev” and raided accommodation used by diplomatic personnel. The diplomats were unharmed, but their belongings were damaged in the fire that gutted the building.
As the sun rose and fires burned all around, emergency services searched the rubble of what was once a nine-story building on the left bank of the Dnipro River, which bisects the city.
City officials said more than 90 people were injured, including children, emergency workers and ambulance drivers, and some were still trapped inside damaged residential buildings.
“Our house is on fire. Oleg pulled the neighbors out of the burning house, and I called all the emergency services during the explosion,” Kiev resident Irina Plekhova posted on Facebook with a photo of a half-ruined apartment with no windows.
“We don’t have an apartment anymore.”
Many buildings at the National Institute of Biochemistry were also damaged, with state-of-the-art biochemistry laboratories and other offices destroyed in the attack.
“This is a catastrophe for medicine and biology in Ukraine,” biologist Yuri Danilovich told Reuters, adding that the laboratory contained rare equipment.
Ukraine’s neighbor Poland, a NATO and EU member, temporarily scrambled fighter jets as a precaution. Finland has also temporarily imposed a temporary restricted air zone in the eastern Gulf of Finland, according to the Finnish Defense Forces.
EU officials say more pressure on Russia is needed
After years of Ukraine bearing the brunt of relentless long-range attacks from Russia, Kiev has stepped up its own attacks in recent months, primarily hitting energy targets, deep into Russian territory. This triggered a fuel crisis in Russia, forcing the world’s third-largest oil producer to import gasoline from as far away as India.
Russia has stepped up its air campaign against Ukrainian cities and responded last month with an attack on the 1,000-year-old Kiev Cathedral, a cornerstone of the Orthodox faith in both countries.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Karas said only continued military aid to Ukraine and increased pressure on Russia could deter a Russian attack.
“Today I propose sanctions against even more organizations supporting Russia’s military-industrial complex in response to airstrikes,” he said in a post on X. “The more Moscow attacks civilians, the more sanctions it must impose.”
President Zelenskiy offered to meet with President Putin to end the war, which has lasted more than four years, but the Kremlin leader rejected the offer.
Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, it has killed thousands of Ukrainian civilians in attacks on Kiev and other Ukrainian cities.
The Russian government denies any deliberate attacks on civilians, but says attacks on what it calls civilian infrastructure are legal because they undermine Ukraine’s ability to wage war.
Kiev also launched much smaller attacks against Russia and Russian-occupied Ukraine.
