Kyiv, Ukraine – June 6, 2025 – Ukraine experienced an unsurpassed overnight attack on June 5, as a coordinated massive attack of missile and drone attacks were launched by Russian forces across the country, with Kyiv suffering the brunt of the attacks.
Ukrainian authorities have described this strike as one of the largest since the beginning of the full-scale invasion over three years ago. The coordinated attacks immediately resulted in at least four people dead and many injured in the city of Kyiv alone, as well as widespread devastation and ongoing immediate search and rescue missions.
The attacks occurred following extensive aerial bombardments which started shortly after the clock struck midnight in Kyiv; as Kyivan’s woke to loud explosions of rockets, undoubtedly followed by the sound of drones overhead.
Air defence systems were engaged for hours attempting to target the massive number of rockets and drones, but areas of the city sustained massive damage in multiple districts. Reports indicate destruction was in areas such as Solomianskyi, Darnytskyi, Holosiivskyi, Desnianskyi, and Shevchenkivskyi according to verified reports from Kyiv Post correspondents and local government.
Kyiv Impacts/ Casualties
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed four dead, 20 injured, including 16 individuals admitted to hospital for serious injuries. Happily, 3 of the 4 were first responders from the State Emergency Service who had perished serving their community while responding to the continuous attacks.
In the Solomianskyi district, there was a severe blow when a Russian strike caused a fire on the 11th floor of a Emergency services evacuated three people from the apartment, while rescue operations continued in the debris. A metal warehouse also caught fire in that area.
Beyond the capital city, areas around Ukraine were also targeted. In the western portion of Ukraine in Ternopil, officials reported industrial buildings were on fire with five injured, and there was high concentration of toxic substances in the air originating from the fires prompting officials to tell residents shelter-in-place.
And, in Lutsk, a northwestern city, reports of five injured private homes and educational and governmental buildings report as damaged. The Poltava region also reported three injured and damage to administrative buildings, warehouses, and a café. Even the Chernihiv region experienced drone strikes and ballistic missiles exploded around areas.
A Wave of Retaliation and Geopolitical Context
Russia’s extensive attacks are warranted by Russian President Vladimir Putin who reportedly shared with U.S. leader Donald Trump that Russia would retaliate for recent Ukrainian aerial drone strikes deep in Russian territory that4 caused damage to their strategic bomber aircraft.
Ukrainian officials had claimed their drone strikes had destroyed more than 40 warplanes on air fields in Russia they dubbed “Operation Spiderweb”, which was a significant loss for the Kremlin’s strategic inventory.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the latest aggressions by Russia reporting specifically that Russia targeted “almost all of Ukraine” and said that “it is time of history to be responsible”, with an emphasis on international communities as a whole need hold Russia to accountability. He asked America, Europe, and the world, the pressure to act must be authoritative to stop the conflict, and failure to act will be considered by Russians as complicity.
The attacks occurred while their faltering conditions of ceasing war conditions were being discussed between Russian and Ukrainian leaders, because the previous rounds of direct negotiations that occurred in Istanbul, by distance was perhaps of them far apart from each other considering negotiating terms. The recent intensity of attacks demonstrates the devastation that continues in larger scale, especially against civilian populations.
The events of June 6, 2025 serves as a resolute recognition that the realities of the war continue and will be devastating yet brutal. It remains a stark reminder that as attacks by Russia continue to use indiscriminate violence in all areas of conflict for human life.