Russia conducted its third large-scale aerial assault on Kyiv in 19 days early Tuesday, firing 73 missiles and more than 650 drones across Ukraine in an attack that killed at least 18 people and wounded more than 100, Ukrainian authorities said. The barrage struck a residential building, a car showroom, a utilities company, and other civilian infrastructure in the capital, where six people died. In the southeastern city of Dnipro, the attack hit apartment blocks, businesses, and a fire station, killing 12 people including two children and leaving rescuers searching for six still missing.
The assault follows a pattern of escalating strikes on civilian areas as Russia’s ground offensive in eastern and southern Ukraine has stalled. Moscow threatened to step up attacks on Kyiv last week and asked foreign residents and diplomats to evacuate the city. Russia launched similar large-scale attacks on the capital on May 14 and May 24.
President Volodymyr Zelensky described the overnight attack as “a large-scale attack and an absolutely clear statement from Russia,” writing on X that “if Ukraine is not protected from ballistic and other missile strikes, these attacks will continue.” He called on the United States for more Patriot system missiles and urged Europe to develop its own antiballistic defense. “Europe needs its own antiballistic defense so that this war can finally be brought to an end,” he wrote. “And assistance from the United States in supplying missiles for Patriot systems is absolutely necessary.”
Ukraine’s air force said it shot down 40 of 73 missiles and 602 of 656 drones. But missile defense remains a critical vulnerability: Ukraine downed only a third of the Iskander-M ballistic missiles fired and none of the eight hypersonic Zircon missiles, according to the air force. The global supply of Patriot interceptors has dwindled because of the war in Iran, leaving Kyiv dependent on allied funding for the expensive antiballistic munitions.
Damage to Ukraine’s energy infrastructure caused power cuts in six regions, including Kyiv, the Energy Ministry said. The Russian Defense Ministry said the attack targeted Ukraine’s military industrial complex, fuel and transport infrastructure, and military airfields.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha asked allies to boost Ukraine’s supply of Patriot systems and missiles, increase investment in the country’s long-range weapons, and tighten sanctions on Russia. “Moscow is losing on the battlefield. No number of missiles can change this. What we can change is Russia’s ability to continue terror,” Sybiha wrote on X.
Now well into its fifth year, the war has lasted longer than the Soviet Union’s fight against Germany in World War II. Russia’s advance on the front line has stalled in recent months despite the Kremlin expending huge sums and many lives in pursuit of its war aims, while Ukraine’s long-range attacks on Moscow and Russian energy infrastructure have brought the war home to Russians consistently for the first time, prompting some of President Vladimir Putin’s most loyal supporters to question whether Russia should continue fighting, the Wall Street Journal reported.