Russia pounds Kyiv with drones and missiles after warning of major strike

The attack seemed designed to terrify before it killed. For days, Moscow paired warnings of a major strike with a delay that kept Kyiv on edge, turning the threat itself into a weapon before hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles hit Ukraine overnight.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry warned on or around May 25 that it planned “systematic strikes” on Kyiv and urged foreign citizens to leave the city. It said the targets would include military sites and what it called “decision-making centers.” By June 1, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said intelligence warnings of a possible massive Russian strike remained in effect and told residents to pay special attention to air-raid alerts.

The assault that followed on June 2 struck Kyiv and other cities across Ukraine, leaving at least 13 to 16 people dead nationwide and more than 100 wounded. In Kyiv, officials said at least four to five people were killed and 65 were injured, including children. Vitali Klitschko, the city’s mayor, said a suspected missile strike brought down part of a 24-storey apartment building and left people feared trapped under the rubble.

Klitschko said the damage was not limited to one tower. A nine-storey apartment block was hit, cars burned in Obolon district, and an area near a kindergarten was also damaged, along with other civilian sites. The scale of the strike underscored how Russia’s air campaign has moved further into a pattern of intimidation as well as destruction, forcing civilians to absorb repeated nights of alerts, explosions and uncertainty.

The overnight bombardment came after earlier large Russian strikes on Kyiv in late May, including a major ballistic missile attack. Together, the attacks have battered civilian infrastructure, strained Ukraine’s air defenses and made clear how little deterrence remains when a strike is telegraphed in advance. Even with warning, Kyiv still had to brace for the impact, and then count the dead.