Russian ballistic missiles slam Kyiv as Ukraine braces for unprecedented mass attack
Editor’s Note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
Waves of Russian ballistic missiles and strike drones pummeled Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities overnight on July 1-2, just hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russia was preparing another large-scale attack against Ukraine.
The attack destroyed a residential building in central Kyiv, damaged a hotel, and left multistory buildings in flames, authorities said. The full extent of the casualties and damage is not yet known and strikes remain ongoing at the time of publication.
Kyiv Independent journalists reported loud explosions and air defense activity in the capital at around 9:40 p.m. local time. Minutes later, Kyiv City Military Administration Head Tymur Tkachenko warned residents that air defense units were engaging drones on the outskirts of the city.
“There is a possibility that attack drones will continue moving toward the capital,” Tkachenko said. “There is also a possibility of a combined attack in the coming days.”
Kyiv residents flocked to underground metro stations for shelter, many pitching tents for the long night ahead.
Shortly before the explosions began, Ukraine’s Air Force warned that groups of Russian drones were headed for Kyiv and other cities, including Mykolaiv, Konotop, and Kherson. A little over an hour later, the Air Force said additional waves of drones were flying towards Kyiv.
Tkachenko warned that drones were attacking the city “from all directions.”
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported damage from drone debris in multiple areas of the city, including a fire at a hotel in the Shevchenkivskyi district. From available footage, the target appears to be the Cityhotel Residence in central Kyiv.
Later, as missiles began to fall, Tkachenko reported that an apartment building in the Shevchenkivskyi district had been “destroyed” by the attack. A fire at another multistory building in the Holosiivskyi district was also damaged, he said.
Rescuers and firefighters are at work at the attack sites.
At 12:45 a.m. on July 2, Tkachenko warned of a ballistic missile threat against Kyiv. The Air Force issued a similar warning about a half hour later. Open-source monitoring channels reported that Russia has launched up to 10 strategic bombers, indicating an imminent mass missile attack.
Kyiv Independent journalists on the ground reported very loud explosions shortly before 2 a.m., as the Air Force warned that Russian missiles were targeting the capital and several Ukrainian cities. The “unbelievably loud” blasts could be heard even from shelters deep underground.
Kyiv residents take shelter in the Palats Ukraina station of the Kyiv Metro in anticipation of a mass Russian attack overnight on July 1-2, 2026. (The Kyiv Independent)
Aerial alerts have been declared in multiple regions of Ukraine, and explosions have been reported in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia and the city of Pavlohrad in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. Explosions have also been reported in Sumy and Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine.
A Kyiv Independent journalist on the ground reported that a shelter in the city’s Podil district was much more crowded on this night than during previous attacks, with many residents bringing children and pets to wait out the night.
The people gathered in the shelter listened to drones exploding overhead while reading real-time news updates and waiting for Russia’s ballistic missiles to strike.
The Kyiv Independent spoke to Anna Chulinda, 25, who had come to the shelter for the first time since the full-scale war began. Chulinda is from Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv Oblast, which is under constant Russian strikes. She usually weathers the attacks at home, in the hallway.
“It’s not as if I read the news there and think, ‘Oh my God, something’s going to happen’ whenever I’m in Kyiv,” Chulinda said. “I’m the sort of person who thinks it could happen any minute. We have been living in a state of war for four years now, and an attack could happen any day.”
“I wouldn’t say I’m prepared for it, but you carry on living, and you know it could happen at any moment.”
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Parents and children shelter in Kyiv’s Podil district during a Russian attack overnight on July 1-2, 2026. (The Kyiv Independent)
The heightened alarm in Kyiv followed an urgent warning from President Zelensky earlier in the day. During a press conference with Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin, Zelensky said that Russia was preparing for another mass strike against Ukraine.
“Once or twice a week, there are large-scale air strikes. Today, there is worrying news about preparations for yet another such mass Russian air strike. We have relevant intelligence data,” the president said.
Zelensky’s warning came amid constant Russian strikes on different regions of Ukraine throughout the day, including a glide bomb attack on Kharkiv that killed a 15-year-old boy and injured 32 civilians.
The Ukrainian company West Oil Group (WOG) announced that WOG gas stations in Kyiv and the surrounding region would be closed from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. beginning on July 1 due to overnight attack threats.
WOG announced similar restrictions on gas stations in Sumy, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kherson oblasts, as well as some facilities in Poltava Oblast.
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Zelensky said Russia is preparing a new mass strike against Ukraine as attacks across several regions killed at least six people and injured more than 100. The Kyiv Independent Yuliia Taradiuk
Ukrainians have been bracing for a massive attack in recent days, as Russia has pledged retribution for Ukraine’s drone strikes on Moscow in June. The large-scale attack brought the reality of drone warfare to the Russian capital for the first time, disabling the Moscow Oil Refinery and exacerbating a nationwide fuel shortage.
The attacks on Moscow, combined with Ukraine’s increasingly successful operation against Russian logistics in Crimea, have undermined Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claims of battlefield victory — and possibly his grip on power in the Kremlin.
Russia’s recent mass attacks on Ukraine have not only targeted residential neighborhoods and civilian infrastructure, but also historic landmarks and cultural heritage sites.
A combined attack against Kyiv on May 24 damaged the National Art Museum, one of the oldest and most important museums in Ukraine. The same attack damaged government buildings, the Kyiv Opera Theater, the Ukrainian House, the Valeriy Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium, and the Chornobyl Museum.
Russia struck again on June 15, damaging the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra and other cultural institutions in a mass missile attack.