Russian strike on Kyiv kills at least nine, wounds 28

Russian forces struck Ukraine's capital on Saturday, killing at least nine people and wounding 28 others, including four children, according to Ukraine's State Emergency Service. The attack hit five districts of Kyiv, damaging residential buildings and triggering fires. Mayor Vitali Klitschko warned residents of a ballistic missile assault and urged them to stay in shelters. AFP reporters on the scene counted more than ten consecutive explosions that set off car alarms across the city.

Russia's defence ministry said it had carried out a 'massive strike' on the Kyiv region aimed at military-industrial facilities and logistics centres. In the Darnytskyi district, seven people were killed and 14 wounded, while two people died and eight were wounded in the Solomianskyi district, where a five-storey residential building was damaged. Rescuers pulled 105 people from affected areas, the emergency service reported, releasing images of firefighters and rubble searches.

June was the deadliest month for Ukrainian civilians since April 2022, according to the United Nations. Kyiv has in turn stepped up strikes inside Russia, and Moscow reported intercepting and destroying 274 Ukrainian drones overnight. The Russian online retailer Wildberries said its Volgograd logistics warehouse caught fire after an overnight attack, the latest in a string of incidents; Ukrainian officials have accused the company of storing drone parts and supporting the Russian military.

Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met US President Donald Trump, who agreed to license Patriot missile production to Ukraine. On Friday, however, Trump said Washington would have to be 'very careful' about granting such a licence. Following Saturday's attack, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Kyiv urgently needs more air and missile defence systems and interceptors, arguing that the fight for the skies will determine the war's trajectory.