Russian missile and drone attack on Ukraine's capital kills at least 11
[July 06, 2026]
By HANNA ARHIROVA and SAMYA KULLAB
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched waves of missiles and drones
targeting Kyiv early Monday that killed at least 11 people, authorities
said, hours after Ukraine’s president warned that a large-scale attack
was imminent.
Another 60 people were wounded, according to local officials, as
emergency workers combed through rubble looking for survivors at
residential high-rise buildings in two locations that suffered direct
hits.
The new attack came days after a Russian strike killed 31 people in the
capital on Thursday, the deadliest for the capital this year. Russia’s
Defense Ministry said the bombardment was retaliation for Ukraine’s
recent long-range strikes, which have caused severe fuel shortages and
pressured President Vladimir Putin.
More than four years after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of
its neighbor, Ukraine’s advances in drone technology have given it an
edge in recent months, analysts and Western officials say. Strikes on
supply routes behind the front line have stripped the Russian army of
momentum on the battlefield, they say, slowing its advance and driving
up the cost.
But Russia is now exploiting a different kind of momentum: gaps in
Ukraine’s air defenses, which remain heavily reliant on the U.S. Patriot
systems to intercept ballistic missiles it can rarely shoot down any
other way. The war in the Middle East has strained the global supply of
Patriot interceptors, already produced in limited numbers — a shortage
now most of all being felt in Ukraine.
Gaps in Ukraine's air defense
Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia fired hundreds of drones and dozens of
missiles at the country overnight, targeting mainly Kyiv and 29
ballistic missiles that were launched struck their targets, underscoring
how little Ukraine can do to stop them.
“To intercept ballistics, we need the means for interception,” Air Force
spokesman Yurii Ihnat said on national television, commenting on last
night’s attack. “Russians are certainly using the fact that there is a
serious deficit of interceptor missiles now, in Ukraine and the world.”
Ahead of a NATO summit in Ankara, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on
X that Ukrainian forces had performed well against drones and cruise
missiles but not against Russian ballistic missiles — a shortfall he
blamed on insufficient interceptor supplies. He urged U.S. and European
partners to leave the summit with strong decisions to bolster Ukraine’s
air defense and protect 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 said in
a statement following the attack.
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Emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following
Russian missile attacks in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP
Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the attack targeted weapons factories in
Kyiv, including sites it said produce drones, sea drones, armored
vehicles and missiles, as well as facilities that repair air defense
systems and fuel and energy infrastructure in the city and surrounding
region. The claims could not be independently verified.
Russia’s aerial attacks on Ukraine have repeatedly hit civilian areas.
More than 16,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed in the war,
according to the United Nations.
“These are residential buildings. Places where people slept and lived
their ordinary lives,” said Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s City
Military Administration, in a post on Telegram.
A residential building in the Podilskyi district partially collapsed, he
said. In the Darnytsia district, several multistory buildings were
damaged and people were believed to be trapped under the rubble.
Ukrainian attacks in Russia and Crimea
Meanwhile, an energy provider in Russia-occupied Crimea reported a
blackout across the peninsula due to “external impact.” The
Moscow-appointed head of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said Ukrainian
attacks cut power supplies to the city early Monday, but it was later
restored using backup equipment.
Russia's Yaroslavl region Gov. Mikhail Yavrayev said two people were
wounded in a Ukrainian drone attack on the city of the same name. He
said over 70 Ukrainian drones were downed as they attacked the city.
Yavrayev didn’t say if any facilities were damaged, but Astra online
news outlet said the attack targeted an oil refinery in the city,
causing a fire.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said that air defenses downed 519 Ukrainian
drones overnight.
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Illia Novikov in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Susie Blann in London contributed to
this report.
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