Zelenskiy warns of imminent Russian mass attack on Ukraine

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned that Russia was preparing an imminent mass attack on Ukraine after a day of strikes that killed at least six people in different regions. In his nightly address on June 20, he urged civilians to move quickly when sirens sound, signaling that Ukrainian officials expected pressure on multiple areas at once, not a single isolated .

“Tonight and in the coming days, please take air raid alerts especially seriously,” Zelenskiy said. He said Russia had already prepared for a massive strike and that new Shahed drone attacks were launched during the day. The warning reflected immediate battlefield reality: the reported deaths were spread across different regions, with casualties tied to Zaporizhzhia, the Kherson region and Poltava, showing that civilians far from the front line remained exposed.

The details pointed to a threat designed to overwhelm air defenses and emergency responders at the same time. In Zaporizhzhia, Russian forces launched nine glide bombs, and one victim’s body was recovered from the rubble. Other accounts from the same day said a woman was killed inside a car in an air strike in Zaporizhzhia, one person was killed in a drone attack in the Kherson region, and three children were injured in Poltava. For Ukraine’s authorities, that kind of pattern is a warning that Russian strikes are still aimed at civilian infrastructure and public fear as much as military targets.

Zelenskiy’s message also fit a broader pattern of repeated alerts about a large-scale Russian strike. On May 30 and June 1, he had already said intelligence warnings about a possible mass attack remained valid. The latest warning came just days after leaders met at the G7-Ukraine session in France, where Kyiv pressed for stronger air defense, licenses to produce anti-ballistic missiles and systems, energy support and more pressure on Russia.

That appeal carried added weight after a major Russian missile-and-drone attack on June 2 killed at least 22 people across Ukraine. In Kyiv alone, city officials said four people were killed and at least 58, including children, were wounded. Taken together, the attacks and the renewed warning suggest Russia continues to test Ukraine’s air defenses and stretch civilian protection across a wider map, while Ukraine’s partners struggle to keep pace with the scale and speed of the threat.