Russian missile and drone barrage hits Kyiv, leaves one dead

Russian ballistic missiles and drones struck Kyiv overnight, killing one person and injuring at least 11 as fires broke out in residential buildings across the capital. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the attack left a nine-story apartment building collapsed in the Desnyanskyi district, with people trapped inside.

Klitschko said the strike also ignited the roof of a multi-story residential building in the Holosiivskyi district and set fire to a hotel roof in the Shevchenkivskyi district in central Kyiv. More than a dozen explosions were heard in central and eastern Kyiv as the city came under repeated attack through the early hours of July 2, 2026.

Residents rushed into underground metro stations for shelter as air-raid alerts spread and the Ukrainian air force warned that ballistic missiles were headed for the capital.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cut short a visit to Dublin after intelligence indicated an overnight Russian strike was likely. The attack on Kyiv came as Russian forces launched wider waves of missiles and strike drones at several Ukrainian cities, including Zaporizhzhia, Pavlohrad, Sumy and Kharkiv.

The barrage followed Ukrainian strikes on targets in Russia, including an oil refinery in Ufa and a military complex in the Penza region. Zelenskyy also cited a strike on a satellite communications center in the Moscow region.

Kyiv has endured repeated mass aerial bombardments throughout Russia’s more than four-year invasion, and the latest strike again hit residential neighborhoods rather than military sites. The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said June 2026 saw a very high civilian toll across the country.