Russian missile and drone attack on Kyiv kills at least 3

Russia launched waves of missiles and drones at Kyiv overnight into Monday, killing at least three people and battering the Ukrainian capital again after days of intensifying long-range attacks. Kyiv authorities said the assault struck the city hours after Ukraine’s president warned that another large-scale strike was imminent.

The timing sharpened the stakes beyond the battlefield. The attack landed on the eve of a NATO summit in Turkey that U.S. President Donald Trump plans to attend, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to meet him on the sidelines on July 8 to seek more military support, including additional Patriot air-defense systems. For Kyiv, the barrage was both a military blow and another reminder that Russia’s campaign is now being fought over civilian endurance as much as territory.

The new strike followed one of the deadliest attacks on Kyiv this year. On July 2, Russia fired hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles at the capital in an 11-hour assault that killed at least 21 civilians, damaged around 130 buildings and hit roughly 30 locations across the city. Apartment blocks, an ambulance substation and other civilian sites were among the places struck, while rescue crews worked through the day as the death toll and injury count climbed.

Together, the two attacks underscored the strain on Ukraine’s air defenses at a moment when Moscow has kept up repeated barrages. Kyiv has relied heavily on Patriot batteries and other systems to intercept incoming missiles and drones, but the scale of the attacks has forced Ukrainian officials to confront a grim arithmetic: every salvo tests the defenders, and every failure is measured in homes destroyed, infrastructure damaged and lives lost.

In Kyiv, the damage is no longer confined to isolated targets. Repeated overnight alerts, rescue operations and the steady toll of civilian casualties have turned normal life into a cycle of alarms, shelter runs and recovery efforts, with the capital absorbing fresh blows just as its leaders seek more protection from allies gathering in Turkey.