Kyiv woke to an hours-long onslaught as Russia unleashed hundreds of drones and missiles in one of the capital’s most intense bombardments since the war began, including the launch of an Oreshnik hypersonic missile near the city.
Ukrainian officials said the overnight barrage killed two people in Kyiv and two more in the surrounding area, while nearly 100 were wounded.
Authorities reported damage to dozens of residential buildings and several schools, with many of the impacts concentrated in central Kyiv.
“It’s important that this does not remain without consequences for Russia,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
He called on Ukraine’s partners to respond.
“Decisions are needed – from the United States, from Europe and others,” he said.
Officials also recorded strikes elsewhere in the country and said two people were killed in the southern region of Kherson.
Firefighters extinguish a fire in an apartment building partially destroyed by a Russian strike in Kyiv
European leaders denounced the attack on Kyiv, with Britain and Germany calling the use of the Oreshnik—an intermediate range missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads—an “escalation”.
Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, said Moscow was resorting to “a political scare tactic and reckless nuclear-brinkmanship”.
Chornobyl museum hit in attack
The strikes caused minor damage to Ukraine’s cabinet building and the Foreign Ministry, officials said.
Kyiv’s national art museum and the philharmonic hall, both located in the city’s core, were badly damaged, according to officials, who added that numerous other historic buildings in the centre were also affected.
“This is a war against our culture, memory, and identity,” said Kyrylo Budanov, Mr Zelensky’s top aide.
“For centuries, Moscow has tried to destroy everything that makes us Ukrainian,” he added.
One strike levelled a newly opened museum dedicated to the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear disaster, drawing a furious response from Mr Zelensky during a visit to the site.
Nearby, at a city-centre cafe that had marked its opening just yesterday, workers swept up shattered glass and debris.
Even with the damage, the cafe kept serving customers—some of whom said they came specifically to show solidarity.
“Once the emotions die down a bit, we’ll think about whether to restore everything … or whether to work at all,” said Yevhenii Prusak, the cafe’s co-owner.
It was only the third reported use of the Oreshnik missile against Ukraine since the war began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The Oreshnik is assessed to have a range of several thousand kilometres.
The previous two attacks hit major cities, but Mr Zelensky said this strike landed in Bila Tserkva, a city of 200,000 people about 64 km from the outskirts of Kyiv.
Analysis of Reuters footage suggests the missile’s warhead split into 36 submunitions, according to Rollo Collins, an investigator at the Centre for Information Resilience, an open-source investigation organisation.
Overall, Ukraine’s air force said, Russia fired 90 missiles and launched 600 drones.
A damaged classroom at the Starobilsk College of Luhansk Pedagogical University
Mr Zelensky said Russia also aimed at water-supply facilities, arguing Moscow was seeking to damage infrastructure ahead of higher summer demand.
Russia said it used Oreshnik, Iskander, Kinzhal and Zircon missiles in retaliation for Ukrainian strikes on civilian targets inside Russia.
Ukraine says it does not target civilians.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said the attacks hit Ukrainian military command facilities, including sites used by land forces and military intelligence, as well as air bases and military-industrial locations.
Russia also denies targeting civilians, though thousands have been killed in bombardments of Ukrainian cities during the war.
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‘It was terrifying’
The barrage hit Lukyanivka, a district north of Kyiv’s city centre that is home to a missile plant, particularly hard.
Apartment blocks and businesses in the area have repeatedly been damaged by Russian strikes over the course of the war, and this time a shopping centre and nearby market were left gutted by fire.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said at least two people were killed in the capital and another 81 were wounded.
Roughly 30 buildings across Kyiv were damaged or destroyed, Mr Zelensky said.
As explosions echoed overnight, many residents headed underground to metro stations for shelter.
Nataliia Zvarych, 62, said she ran to her local station as the blasts began shaking the city.
“It was terrifying, scary,” she said.
Kyiv has recently broadened its drone capabilities and intensified strikes on undisputed Russian territory, including residential areas and oil export infrastructure.
US-led efforts to negotiate an end to more than four years of war have slowed in recent months, with Washington’s focus pulled towards its conflict in the Middle East.
Analysis: Deep strikes – Ukraine and Russia’s drone warfare escalates
