Russian missile and drone assault on Ukraine’s capital kills at the least 12

KYIV, Ukraine — Russia launched waves of missiles and drones at Kyiv early Monday, killing at the least 12 individuals in an assault that uncovered widening gaps in Ukraine’s air defenses, authorities mentioned.

The entire ballistic missiles launched by Russia struck their targets, underscoring Kyiv’s want for extra Patriot interceptor missiles — a degree Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will doubtless reiterate at a NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, this week. The assault got here hours after Zelenskyy warned {that a} large-scale assault was imminent.

An extra 60 individuals have been wounded, in keeping with Zelenskyy, as emergency staff combed by way of rubble in search of survivors at residential high-rises in two areas that suffered direct hits.

Days earlier, on Thursday, a Russian strike killed 31 individuals in Kyiv, the deadliest for the capital this yr. Russia’s Protection Ministry mentioned the bombardment was retaliation for Ukraine’s latest long-range strikes, which have induced extreme gas shortages and pressured President Vladimir Putin.

Greater than 4 years after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of its neighbor, Ukraine’s advances in drone know-how have given it an edge in latest months, analysts and Western officers say. Strikes on provide routes behind the entrance line have stripped the Russian military of momentum on the battlefield, they are saying, slowing its advance and driving up the associated fee.

However Russia is now exploiting a distinct type of momentum: vulnerabilities in Ukraine’s air defenses, which stay closely reliant on the U.S. Patriot methods to intercept ballistic missiles it could actually hardly ever shoot down some other approach. The struggle within the Center East has strained the worldwide provide of Patriot interceptors, already produced in restricted numbers — a scarcity now most of all being felt in Ukraine.

Rescuers work the scene of a constructing broken by Russian missile assault in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 6, 2026.

Efrem Lukatsky/AP

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Gaps in Ukraine’s air protection

Ukraine’s air power mentioned Russia fired 351 drones and 68 missiles in a single day, focusing on primarily Kyiv, and all 29 ballistic missiles struck their targets.

“To intercept ballistics, we need the means for interception,” air power spokesman Yurii Ihnat mentioned on nationwide tv. “Russians are certainly using the fact that there is a serious deficit of interceptor missiles now, in Ukraine and the world.”

Forward of the NATO summit in Ankara, Zelenskyy mentioned on X that Ukrainian forces had carried out nicely towards drones and cruise missiles however not towards Russian ballistic missiles — a shortfall he blamed on inadequate interceptor provides. He urged U.S. and European companions to depart the summit with robust choices to bolster Ukraine’s air protection and defend civilian lives.

“As long as Patriot missiles remain in our allies’ stockpiles, Russia is only encouraged to keep ‘vanquishing’ residential buildings. The United States and Europe have enough strength to stop this terror,” he mentioned in a press release following the assault.

Russia’s Protection Ministry mentioned the assault focused weapons factories in Kyiv, together with websites it mentioned produce drones, sea drones, armored automobiles and missiles, in addition to services repairing air protection methods and gas and power infrastructure within the metropolis and surrounding area. The claims couldn’t be independently verified.

Russia’s aerial assaults on Ukraine have repeatedly hit civilian areas. Greater than 16,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed within the struggle, in keeping with the United Nations.

“These are residential buildings. Places where people slept and lived their ordinary lives,” mentioned Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s Navy Administration, in a publish on Telegram.

A residential constructing within the Podilskyi district partially collapsed, he mentioned. Within the Darnytsia district, a number of multistory buildings have been broken and other people have been believed to be trapped below the rubble.

Native residents stroll amid particles following a Russian missile assault in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 6, 2026.

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Witnesses recount harrowing escape

Khrystyna Piatetska, 20, a resident of Kyiv’s Darnytskyi district, mentioned she started screaming after the primary strike, which was adopted by a second blast that blew out the home windows in her condominium constructing.

The lights went out, the odor of burning stuffed the air and the stairwell was thick with smoke, she mentioned.

“When we were leaving the building, bodies were lying there,” Piatetska mentioned. “When we got downstairs, cars started exploding, and we came out from under the rubble straight into the fire.”

Halina Ivanivna, 61, mentioned she woke to the sound of the primary strike at round 2 a.m. Moments later, her condominium constructing started to break down round her. “Everything was falling down,” she mentioned. Water poured by way of the constructing as smoke stuffed the air whereas emergency crews rushed to evacuate residents.

About 5 minutes after the preliminary impression, a second strike hit, she mentioned.

Ukrainian assaults in Russia and occupied Crimea

In the meantime, an power supplier in Russia-occupied Crimea reported a blackout throughout the peninsula on account of “external impact.” The Moscow-appointed head of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, mentioned Ukrainian assaults lower energy provides to town early Monday, however it was later restored utilizing backup tools.

Russia’s Yaroslavl area Gov. Mikhail Yavrayev mentioned two individuals have been wounded in a Ukrainian drone assault on town of the identical identify. He mentioned over 70 Ukrainian drones have been downed. Yavrayev did not say if any services have been broken, however Astra on-line information outlet mentioned the assault focused an oil refinery, inflicting a hearth.

Russia’s Protection Ministry mentioned that air defenses downed 519 Ukrainian drones in a single day.