The Ukrainian capital suffered the worst Russian drone and missile strike since the start of the war, which left at least 27 dead and 91 injured, with Kyiv promising Thursday to retaliate blow for blow to Moscow which announced its intention to continue its attacks.
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“Russia is striking civilian targets only to force Ukraine to give up its state,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who visited the site of the bombings, assuring that Ukraine would retaliate.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks to the media during a press briefing in Kyiv, June 4, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
AFP
More than four years after the Russian army began its invasion of the country, it regularly launches massive strikes involving hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles on Ukraine and its capital. Kyiv, with much less resources, particularly in terms of missiles, has also stepped up its attacks on Russian territory, dealing a blow in particular to the oil sector.
During the night from Wednesday to Thursday, Ukraine was targeted by 496 drones and 74 missiles of different types, of which 476 and 48 were intercepted respectively, according to the Ukrainian Air Force.
The capital, Kyiv, was particularly targeted. AFP journalists heard explosions for several hours and the air alert lasted more than 11 hours straight. In one of the affected neighborhoods, a journalist saw a body pulled from the debris.
According to the head of Kyiv’s military administration, Tymour Tkachenko, 27 people were killed during this attack and 91 injured.
Entire sections of residential buildings collapsed, a building housing ambulances was hit and, according to EU spokesperson Anitta Hipper, debris fell on a building which “hosted several diplomats”.
One of the Ukrainian Red Cross’s main warehouses containing humanitarian supplies was also “destroyed”. Elsewhere, a stock of 800,000 books from a publishing house was lost.
“Senseless killings”
This is the “most massive” attack on the capital since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, said Mayor Vitali Klitschko, who declared Friday a “day of mourning”.
Seven people were also injured in Kryvyï Rig (center) during a missile strike on a highly urbanized area, three of whom are hospitalized in moderate condition, Oleksandr Vilkoul, head of the military administration of Kryvyï Rig, announced on Telegram on Friday night.
“Russia will continue to increase pressure on the Kyiv regime in order to achieve the objectives it has set for itself,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov told journalists, including AFP.
Volodymyr Zelensky, for his part, urged his allies to deliver more anti-aircraft defense assets to his country. He said he hoped the subject would be discussed at the NATO summit scheduled in a few days in Ankara.
American President Donald Trump, who has undertaken efforts to mediate the conflict since his return to power, has said he wants a peace agreement between Kyiv and Moscow to put an end to the “senseless killings”.
For Berlin, the Russian attack underlines that “Putin shows no desire to negotiate.” Paris also denounced Moscow’s “obstinacy” in continuing the war.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “strongly condemned” the attack and called for “de-escalation” and a ceasefire.
The Russian Ministry of Defense spoke of a “massive strike” carried out “in response to the terrorist attacks by the Kyiv regime against civilian infrastructure”, ensuring that it was “military industry companies and energy sites” which had been targeted in kyiv and its region.
Refugees in the metro
In the streets of Kyiv, residents flocked to shelters, sometimes with a mattress under their arm. Some 52,000 people, including 4,500 children, took refuge in the metro, the largest crowd seen at night in recent years, according to the capital’s metro operator.
“There were three strikes here. Half of the building is destroyed, the roof no longer exists,” said Sabina Mambetova, 32, whose apartment was destroyed. “There have been many strikes before, but this is the first time it’s been like this,” she told AFP, speaking of a “real nightmare”.
“I grabbed my child and ran to a shelter, which I didn’t come out of until this morning. Many of my relatives do not respond. Now we are trying to reach everyone,” explained Karina Taran, 25, who said she thought she was living her last hour.
In retaliation for Russian strikes, Ukraine has increased attacks on refineries and oil depots in Russia, causing fuel shortages in the country.
During the night from Wednesday to Thursday in Russia, a civilian was killed in the Belgorod region, bordering Ukraine, and another in the Nizhny Novgorod region, 400 km east of Moscow, in Ukrainian drone attacks, according to local authorities.
