At least 21 people were killed in Kyiv, the local authorities said. Ukraine’s president had warned that Moscow was preparing a “massive strike” as his country’s forces have hit deeper into Russian territory. Share full articleKyiv, UkraineEmergency workers search the rubble of a damaged nine-story building.Cassandra Vinograd/The New York TimesKyiv, UkrainePeople taking shelter at a subway station.Roman Pilipey/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesKyiv, UkraineMetal fragments found at a strike location are inspected.Cassandra Vinograd/The New York TimesKyiv, UkraineWaiting at a bus stop as smoke rises following Russian strikes.Alina Smutko/ReutersKyiv, UkraineA person rescued from a collapsed residential building.Paula Bronstein/Getty ImagesKyiv, UkraineA crater in front of an apartment building.Cassandra Vinograd/The New York TimesKyiv, UkraineFirefighters extinguishing blazes on Thursday after Russia launched waves of missiles and drones.Genya Savilov/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesKyiv, UkraineResidents at a destroyed playground. Many in Kyiv had been bracing for a large-scale Russian assault. Roman Pilipey/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesKyiv, UkraineWorkers board up shattered windows.Cassandra Vinograd/The New York TimesKyiv, UkraineAn apartment building burning after a Russian attack.Danylo Antoniuk/Associated Press See more of our coverage in your search results.Encuentra más de nuestra cobertura en los resultados de búsqueda. Add The New York Times on GoogleAgrega The New York Times en Google Latest PinnedUpdated July 2, 2026, 10:27 p.m. ETCassandra Vinograd and Marc Santora Cassandra Vinograd reported from Kyiv, Ukraine, and Marc Santora from Warsaw. Russia Bombards Ukrainian Capital With Deadly Wave of AttacksImageThe site of a Russian attack on Kyiv on Thursday.Credit...Alina Smutko/ReutersThe Russian military blasted Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, with waves of ballistic missiles and drones that lasted into Thursday morning, a deadly show of force after weeks of Ukrainian attacks in Russia that have heaped pressure on President Vladimir V. Putin. At least 27 people were killed and 85 injured in overnight attacks, Ukrainian officials said, as firefighters raced to extinguish blazes in districts across the city. Several apartment buildings were partially destroyed and an unknown number of people were trapped in the rubble, according to the local authorities. The barrage was the latest in the deadliest spring for civilians in Ukraine since the opening months of Moscow’s full-scale invasion in 2022, with the violence increasing as both sides have raced to develop new weapons. Russia has been bombarding Ukrainian towns and cities throughout the war, but Ukraine is increasingly able to bring the war further into Russia. It is using its growing arsenal of domestically produced long-range drones and cruise missiles to attack fuel facilities and military installations deep inside the country. And it is systematically hitting targets in every corner of occupied Ukraine, including Crimea, a peninsula controlled by Russia. Kyiv’s growing reach has caused logistical struggles for the Russian military and has led to widespread fuel shortages across the country, eroding Mr. Putin’s ability to insulate large parts of Russia, including Moscow, the capital, from the war. But it does not seem to have dented his resolve to continue fighting. After initially staying silent on Ukraine’s ratcheting up of attacks, Mr. Putin told Russian state television on Sunday that the assaults on critical infrastructure were “obviously creating problems” and “certain shortages,” though he said the situation was not “critical.” Russia’s defense ministry said in a statement on Thursday that the strikes on Kyiv were in response to Ukraine’s recent attacks. Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said that it was wrong to equate his country’s strikes in Russia with Moscow’s unrelenting bombardments. “It is immoral to justify Russian atrocities against Ukrainians by saying that Moscow acts in response to Ukraine’s long-range strikes against Russia,” he said on social media. “In this war, there is an aggressor and a country defending itself under Article 51 of the U.N. Charter. ” The Ukrainian military said it had targeted Russian energy infrastructure again on Thursday, claiming that it had struck an oil refinery in the town of Kstovo in Nizhny Novgorod region, one of the largest in Russia. The European Union responded to Russia’s attacks by proposing to impose new economic sanctions against entities that support Moscow’s military defense industry. “Words of condemnation alone will not stop attacks on Kyiv,” Kaja Kallas, the bloc’s top diplomat, said on social media. “Only sustained military support for Ukraine and increased pressure on Moscow can do that.” Ukraine has been trying to force the Russian military to pay a heavy price for every mile of land it seizes and increase the economic costs for the Kremlin. Moscow believes its military can outlast Kyiv’s outnumbered forces on the front while inflicting such a heavy human and economic toll that it breaks the will of civilians, according to Western military analysts. Many of Kyiv’s three million residents had been bracing for a large-scale Russian assault in part because about two weeks had passed since the last one, giving Moscow time to stockpile missiles and drones. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine had warned in recent days that Russia was preparing a “massive strike,” and he urged people to be “especially careful.” Before dawn on Thursday, explosions boomed and thick smoke rose over the Ukrainian capital. More than 50,000 people sought shelter in the city’s subway stations, according to the local authorities, and tens of thousands took cover in basements, garages or in makeshift shelters at home. Firefighters and emergency workers raced to extinguish blazes across the city. Several apartment buildings were partially destroyed and an unknown number of people were trapped in the rubble, according to the local authorities. Mr. Zelensky said more than 30 locations across Kyiv were hit or damaged, including residential buildings, an ambulance station, and a research institute. In an underground parking garage in the Darnytsia district of the city, dozens of residents waited out the night’s bombardment. Some slept in their cars, others on the concrete floor. “We could hear the explosions clearly — it wasn’t far away,” said Olena Rudenkova, a resident of the district. What has changed, she added, was not the fear but the response to it. “I don’t think anyone cries anymore, not even the children,” she said. “Everyone becomes as focused and angry as possible.” The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia launched 74 missiles and 476 drones in the attack, primarily targeting Kyiv. The barrage included 28 ballistic missiles, which can only be intercepted by Patriot systems, it added. Ukraine’s stockpile of Patriot interceptors was running low even before the latest attacks. NATO countries have been regularly shipping modest numbers of the interceptor missiles to Kyiv, but the Ukrainian military has been unable to keep up with Russia’s frequent strikes or Moscow’s capacity to produce new missiles. Oleksandr Chubko, Liubov Sholudko, Oleksandra Mykolyshyn and Lara Jakes contributed reporting. Kyiv residents pick up the pieces after the latest Russian assault.ImageA woman holds a child near an apartment building damaged in Russian airstrikes.Credit...Viacheslav Ratynskyi/ReutersSmoke poured from the roof of a six-story hotel in central Kyiv on Thursday morning. Two ladder trucks sprayed jets of water that sent debris tumbling to the sidewalk below, where dozens of firefighters were gathered. They trudged in and out of the stately building in central Kyiv’s Shevchenko district, their faces sooty and red. Some sat down along a fence, chugging water in the summer heat and staring up at the burning building in front of them. It was one of many blazes in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, on Thursday as Russia launched one of its deadliest barrages in recent weeks. At least 27 people were killed, dozens were injured, and tens of thousands sought shelter in subway stations while air-raid sirens blared and explosions filled the skies. “It was terrifying,” said Kateryna, 77, who had been at the entrance of her building when explosions hit that morning. “There was a huge blast, people screamed, and the whole room shook.” The latest deadly night in Ukraine, more than four years into the war with Russia, showed how the toll for civilians continues to mount amid slow, grinding fighting on the battlefield. As Ukrainian forces have struck deeper inside Russia in recent weeks, causing casualties and supply challenges for President Vladimir V. Putin’s forces, Moscow has struck back with waves of assaults on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. In May, the United Nations reported that at least 274 civilians had been killed and more than 1,700 injured, the highest combined total in a month since April 2022, soon after the Russian invasion began. Rescue teams worked into the afternoon searching the rubble for survivors and victims, including in the Darntysia district, where a nine-story apartment building had partially collapsed from a strike. Affixed to harnesses, the rescue workers gingerly explored what remained of the building’s upper levels while excavators moved buckets of concrete and debris on the ground below. The workers didn’t pause even when new air-raid sirens sounded, warning of incoming Russian drones. Nearby, residents swept up glass around other damaged buildings and boarded up blown-out windows and doors with planks of wood. Some people were still shaken from the overnight assault. Kateryna, the 77-year-old, shuffled down a sidewalk, glass crunching underfoot. She had moved to Kyiv from Cherkasy, in central Ukraine, just weeks ago to be closer to her children and grandchildren, she said, declining to give her full name because she did not want people in her hometown to know she had been affected. After these strikes, she said, it was clear that moving had been a mistake. “It’s heartbreaking to think about it now,” she said, starting to cry.
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