Russia launched a major missile and drone attack on Kyiv overnight on July 6, killing at least 11 people and injuring at least 46 in the capital, just four days after the deadliest strike on the city this year, Reuters reported.
Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia launched 68 missiles and 351 attack and decoy drones, with Kyiv as the primary target, according to The Kyiv Independent. The barrage included 23 ballistic missiles, 39 cruise missiles and six anti-ship missiles. Ukrainian air defences shot down 37 missiles and 326 drones, but Reuters reported that none of the ballistic, super- or hypersonic missiles were intercepted.
The attack heavily damaged civilian areas. Residential buildings were hit in the Podilskyi, Obolonskyi, Holosiivskyi and Darnytskyi districts of Kyiv, including a building in Podilskyi district that was partially destroyed between its fifth and ninth floors. The Kyiv Independent also reported damage to homes, businesses and other civilian infrastructure in Bucha, Vyshhorod and Brovary in Kyiv Oblast.
The strike came only four days after Russia’s July 2 attack on Kyiv, which killed 31 people and injured 102, according to Ukrainian reporting cited by The Kyiv Independent. Reuters described that earlier barrage as the deadliest attack on the capital this year.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said the July 6 strikes targeted military-industrial and energy sites, as well as airfields. But the documented impact in Kyiv again fell heavily on residential buildings and civilian infrastructure.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian air defences showed strong results against drones and cruise missiles, but that ballistic missile defence remained limited by a shortage of Patriot interceptors. “Any delay with missiles for our air defense – missiles for Patriots – means the loss of lives, and it encourages Russia to continue the war,” Zelenskyy wrote, according to RFE/RL.
The attack came on the eve of the NATO summit in Ankara, where Zelenskyy is expected to meet US President Donald Trump. The timing adds urgency to Kyiv’s central demand before the summit: faster delivery of air-defence systems and interceptor missiles able to stop Russia’s ballistic strikes.
