I can step straight from the room out onto the street
Before dawn on a Tuesday in June, Russia unleashed one of the largest combined drone and missile barrages of the four-year war against Ukraine, sending 656 drones and 73 missiles toward Kyiv and cities across the country. At least 11 people were killed and more than 100 wounded, a 24-story apartment building partially collapsed in the capital, and thousands sheltered underground while the sky above them burned. The attack, which included eight hypersonic Zircon missiles, came as both sides traded escalating blows — each claiming justification, each adding to a toll that has long since outgrown the language of retaliation.
- Russia launched its largest single-night barrage of the war — 656 drones and 73 missiles — targeting Kyiv and cities across Ukraine in an overnight assault that began before dawn.
- A 24-story residential building in Kyiv's Obolon district partially collapsed after a direct hit, trapping residents under rubble, while fires broke out across the city near homes, cars, and a kindergarten.
- At least 11 people were killed — including a rescue worker struck in a deliberate second-wave 'double-tap' strike — and more than 100 were wounded, with seven of the dead in the southeastern city of Dnipro alone.
- Thousands of Kyiv residents fled to subway tunnels for shelter, carrying pets and mattresses, while Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 602 drones and 40 missiles — leaving hundreds of weapons to reach their targets.
- Ukraine continued its own escalating campaign, striking a Russian oil refinery in Krasnodar the same day, as Poland scrambled jets to secure its airspace and the cycle of reciprocal strikes showed no sign of breaking.
The sirens came before dawn. By the time the first explosions lit the sky over Kyiv, thousands of residents were already descending into subway stations, carrying pets, mattresses, and whatever small things felt worth saving.
Russia had fired 656 drones and 73 missiles at Ukraine overnight — a barrage that included eight Zircon hypersonic missiles, the most deployed in a single attack since the war began four years ago. Ukrainian air defenses intercepted the majority, but hundreds of weapons still reached their targets. In Kyiv's Obolon district, a 24-story apartment building took a direct hit and partially collapsed. Fires broke out across the city. In Dnipro, seven people were killed and 36 wounded. By morning, the confirmed death toll stood at 11, with more than 100 injured. Among the dead was a rescue worker killed in a second strike deliberately timed to hit responders who had rushed to the scene of the first.
Olena Dniprovska, 65, was in her Kyiv apartment when the blast wave hit. She ran into the corridor before the ceiling came down — glass, plaster, the door blown off its hinges. Her husband was thrown by the same force. When she emerged, there was no wall left, just an open space looking directly onto the street. At another strike site, a mother stood with her six-year-old daughter amid smoke and twisted metal. 'Some kind of apocalypse,' the woman said. 'You couldn't see anything.'
In the tunnels below the city, thousands waited together. 'I only dream that this will end soon,' said one woman, 32, with a heavy sigh, 'but I've lost all hope.' President Zelensky had warned the day before that a major attack was coming. The Kremlin had framed the assault as retaliation for a drone strike on a dormitory in Russian-held Luhansk that killed 21 — an attack Ukraine denied. Both sides deny targeting civilians. Both sides continue to do so.
The same day, Ukraine struck a Russian oil refinery in Krasnodar. Russia claimed to have downed 148 Ukrainian drones over its own territory. Poland scrambled military jets as a precaution. The exchange of blows continued, as it has for four years, while in the subway stations of Kyiv, people waited for an all-clear that, for some, would lead back to apartments that no longer existed.
The sirens woke Kyiv before dawn on Tuesday. By the time the first explosions lit the sky, thousands of residents were already moving toward the subway stations, carrying what they could—pets, mattresses, the small things that might matter if home was still standing when they emerged.
Russia had launched 656 drones and 73 missiles at Ukraine overnight, the air force would later confirm. The barrage was relentless and precise, aimed at the capital and cities across the country. Ukrainian air defenses managed to intercept or neutralize 602 of the drones and 40 of the missiles, but that still left hundreds of weapons reaching their targets. Among them were eight Zircon hypersonic missiles—the largest number of those weapons Russia had deployed in a single attack since the war began four years ago. Each one travels at nine times the speed of sound and can strike from a thousand kilometers away.
In Kyiv's Obolon district, a 24-story apartment building took a direct hit. The structure partially collapsed, trapping residents under tons of concrete and steel. Across the city, fires erupted where missile debris fell on cars and buildings. A nine-story residential block burned. Near a kindergarten, flames spread across open ground. By morning, at least 11 people were confirmed dead across Kyiv and other cities, with more than 100 wounded. In the southeastern city of Dnipro, seven were killed and 36 injured. One of the dead was a rescue worker, killed in what emergency services called a "double-tap" strike—a second wave of missiles targeting the responders who had rushed to help after the first impact.
Olena Dniprovska, 65, was in her apartment in Kyiv's Podilskyi district when the blast wave hit. She ran into the corridor with her phone, and before she could process what was happening, the ceiling came down on her head—glass, plaster, the door blown clean off its hinges by the force of the explosion. Her husband Yevhen, 64, was thrown by the same blast. When she emerged from the rubble, she found her apartment completely destroyed. No doors. No windows. No balcony. Just an open space where a wall used to be, looking directly out onto the street.
Olha Mudra stood at another strike site with her six-year-old daughter Natalia, trying to find words for what they had witnessed. "We couldn't understand what was happening," she said. "Some kind of apocalypse." Everything was smoke and debris. You couldn't see anything. The residential building in front of her was a ruin. The cars nearby were twisted metal.
In the subway stations, thousands crowded together in the tunnels below the city. Valeriia Nafechinko, 32, sat among them with a heavy sigh. "I only dream that this will end soon," she said, "but I've lost all hope." The war had been grinding on for more than four years now, since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. The attacks had become routine, but that didn't make them bearable.
The assault had been preceded by warnings. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had alerted the country the day before that a major attack was coming. The Kremlin had announced its intention to conduct "systematic strikes" on Kyiv in retaliation for a drone attack on a dormitory in the Russian-held region of Luhansk that had killed 21 people—an attack Ukraine denied carrying out. Both sides deny targeting civilians. Both sides continue to do so anyway.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has escalated its own campaign this year, striking Russian oil facilities deep inside Russian territory. On Tuesday, the Ilsky oil refinery in the southern Russian region of Krasnodar caught fire after a Ukrainian drone attack. In Russia's Belgorod region, an 11-year-old boy was injured when a Ukrainian drone hit his home. Poland, a NATO member, scrambled military jets to secure its airspace as a precaution. Russia claimed to have shot down 148 Ukrainian drones over its own territory.
The cycle continues. Each side strikes the other. Each side claims precision and restraint. Each side counts the dead and plans the next attack. In the subway stations of Kyiv, thousands waited for the all-clear that might never come, or might come only to send them back to apartments that no longer existed.
Citas Notables
We couldn't understand what was happening—some kind of apocalypse?— Olha Mudra, Kyiv resident, at a strike site with her daughter
I only dream that this will end soon, but I've lost all hope.— Valeriia Nafechinko, 32, sheltering in a Kyiv metro station
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why does Russia keep launching these massive barrages instead of more targeted strikes?
Because they're trying to overwhelm the air defense system. If you send 656 drones and 73 missiles at once, even if they shoot down most of them, some will get through. It's attrition warfare applied to the sky.
And the Zircon missiles—why are eight of them significant?
They're hypersonic, traveling at nine times the speed of sound. Harder to intercept. Using eight in one night suggests Russia is escalating, testing whether Ukraine's defenses can handle them. It's a message as much as a military tactic.
The woman in the apartment—Olena—she lost everything in seconds.
Yes. And she's one of thousands. The strike on that 24-story building alone probably displaced hundreds of people. But what struck me about her account was the specificity of loss. Not just "my apartment was destroyed," but "I can step from my room straight out onto the street." That's the texture of displacement.
Is there any end in sight to this?
Not that anyone can see. The U.S. administration is focused elsewhere. Ukraine keeps hitting Russian oil facilities. Russia keeps hitting Ukrainian cities. Both sides deny targeting civilians while doing exactly that. The woman in the subway—Valeriia—said she's lost hope. That's the real casualty count.
What about the rescue worker killed in the double-tap strike?
That's a deliberate tactic. You hit a location, wait for responders to arrive, then hit it again. It's designed to break the will of people trying to help. It's also a war crime, but those accusations don't stop the attacks.
So this attack—was it retaliation?
Officially, yes. Russia said it was responding to a drone attack on a dormitory in Luhansk that killed 21. Ukraine denies it. But the pattern is clear: one side strikes, the other retaliates, and civilians in apartment buildings pay the price.