Russia launched one of its heaviest aerial attacks of the war on Kyiv overnight into July 2, killing at least 20 people and wounding more than 90 in an assault that Ukrainian officials said set a grim record for the number of ballistic missiles aimed at the capital in a single night.
A record barrage
Ukraine's air force said Russia fired around 74 missiles and close to 500 drones at targets across the country, with Kyiv the main focus, as reported by CNBC. Air defenses shot down or neutralized the large majority, officials said, but a significant number of weapons got through — including a record number of ballistic missiles, which are especially hard to intercept because of their speed.
The attack unfolded over many hours, with air-raid alerts sounding across Kyiv through the night. In a striking sign of how residents now live with the threat, the city's metro system sheltered a record number of people underground — Ukrainian officials put the figure at more than 50,000, including thousands of children — as the strikes continued.
The human toll
Casualty figures rose through the day and varied between agencies, as is common in the immediate aftermath of a mass-casualty attack. Kyiv officials said at least 20 people had been killed and more than 90 injured, while national bodies gave differing counts; NPR reported a toll of at least 17 in the capital, and Ukrainian sources cited by the Kyiv Independent put the number as high as 21. All figures were described as provisional.
Officials said damage was recorded at dozens of sites across the city, most of it to residential buildings and civilian infrastructure. President Volodymyr Zelensky said an ambulance station, a research institute, a hotel and businesses were among the buildings hit, and that energy infrastructure had been damaged, cutting power to some residents. Emergency workers, including paramedics, were reported among the wounded.
Russia's account
Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces had struck military and energy targets — describing them as military-industrial sites, fuel and energy facilities and airfields — rather than civilian areas, and cast the strikes as a response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory. Those claims could not be independently verified, and Ukrainian authorities said the damage fell heavily on homes and civilian sites.
An intensifying air war
The assault fits a pattern of escalating long-range strikes by both sides. Russia has stepped up mass missile-and-drone attacks in recent weeks, exploiting shortages in Ukraine's air defenses, while Ukraine has expanded its own deep strikes inside Russia, targeting oil refineries and military facilities that help sustain Moscow's war effort.
The barrage also rippled beyond Ukraine's borders: neighboring Poland scrambled aircraft as a precaution during the attack, a reminder of how the fighting repeatedly tests the nerves of nearby NATO members.
For Kyiv's residents, the immediate reality was another night in shelters and metro stations, and another morning counting the dead and clearing rubble — the routine of a war, now well into its fourth year, that shows little sign of easing.
