Editor’s Note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
Russia launched a mass missile and drone attack against Ukraine overnight on June 6, targeting the capital, major cities, and the country’s far-western regions.
The attack comes a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to retaliate against Ukraine for its drone strike against Russian air bases in a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Air raid alerts have been activated in all Ukrainian regions, following Russia’s latest mass attack. Ukraine’s Air Force warned that multiple Russian Tu-95MS strategic bombers had taken flight and likely already launched cruise missiles.
Explosions have been reported in Kyiv, Ternopil, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Lviv, and Lutsk.
Ukraine’s Air Force reported that Russia launched 452 drones overnight, including Iranian-designed Shahed-type suicide drones, along with 45 missiles of various types.
Air defenses intercepted 199 drones, while another 169 dropped off radars — likely used as decoys to overwhelm Ukrainian systems. Ukrainian forces also intercepted 36 missiles, including the Iskander-M ballistic missile.
“Russia doesn’t change its stripes – another massive strike on cities and ordinary life. They targeted almost all of Ukraine – Volyn, Lviv, Ternopil, Kyiv, Sumy, Poltava, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy, and Chernihiv regions,” President Volodymyr Zelensky commented on the attacks.
“Russia must be held accountable for this. Since the first minute of this war, they have been striking cities and villages to destroy life.”
Multiple fires broke out across Kyiv as drones struck residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure. Explosions and falling debris were reported in several districts, including Solomianskyi, Holosiivskyi, Darnytskyi, Dniprovskyi, and Shevchenkivskyi.
At least four people were killed, Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported. Another 20 have been injured, with 16 of the injured victims hospitalized.
According to Ukraine’s largest private energy company, DTEK,2,167 families on the left bank of Kyiv were left without electricity due to Russian attacks.
Dmytro Basmat
A Russian drone struck the 11th floor of a 16-story apartment block in the Solomianskyi district, igniting a fire, the Kyiv City Military Administration reported. Three people were rescued, and the fire has since been extinguished. A fire also broke out at an industrial site in the area.
In the Holosiivskyi district, debris hit a residential building, sparking a blaze and causing yet-to-be-assessed damage. An educational institution was damaged in the attack and falling drone wreckage landed near a gas station, damaging a car.
Another erupted on the 17th floor of a residential high-rise in the Darnytskyi district. Medics were called to the site of the attack.
The administration also reported “significant damage” to a gas station in the city’s Dniprovskyi district.
The attack damaged tracks and cables on the metro line between the Darnytsia and Livoberezhna stations, causing closures and route disruptions. Repair work is expected to be completed in 24 hours, the administration said.
Dmytro Basmat
In the western city of Ternopil, Russia struck infrastructure and industrial facilities with Shahed drones and Kalibr cruise missiles, according to Mayor Serhii Nadal. Part of the city lost electricity. Five people were injured and are receiving medical treatment.
Ternopil lies hundreds of kilometers from the front line and is not a frequent target of Russian attacks.
Casualties were reported in Lutsk in northwestern Ukraine amid the mass strike. Ihor Polishchuk, the city’s mayor, said at least five residents had been injured in the attack.
Polishchuk reported that the roof of an apartment building was damaged, as were vehicles, commercial properties, and a government institution. According to the mayor, Russia attacked Lutsk with 15 drones and six missiles.
After speaking with Putin over the phone on June 4, Trump warned that the Kremlin was planning a response to Operation Spiderweb — Ukraine’s audacious drone strike that damaged 41 Russian bombers on June 1. While Putin has stayed publicly silent on Ukraine’s attack, Trump said Russia’s retaliation was “not going to be pretty.”
But Moscow needs no excuse to bombard Ukraine with drones and missiles, as the mass strikes Russia launched against Ukrainian cities in the days before Spiderweb prove. For three consecutive nights in the last week of May, Russia targeted Ukraine with some of the heaviest aerial attacks since the start of the full-scale war.
Olena Goncharova
