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Russian missile and drone attack on Ukraine's capital kills at least 12
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Rescuers work the scene of a building damaged by Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 6, 2026.
"To intercept ballistics, we need the means for interception," air force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said on national television. He urged U.S.
"As long as Patriot missiles remain in our allies' stockpiles, Russia is only encouraged to keep 'vanquishing' residential buildings.
The claims could not be independently verified.
More than 16,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed in the war, according to the United Nations.
"These are residential buildings.
A residential building in the Podilskyi district partially collapsed, he said.
"When we were leaving the building, bodies were lying there," Piatetska said. "Everything was falling down," she said. Water poured through the building as smoke filled the air while emergency crews rushed to evacuate residents.
About five minutes after the initial impact, a second strike hit, she said.
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− Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Russian missile and drone attack on Ukraine's capital kills at least 12 Russia launched waves of missiles and drones at Kyiv early Monday, killing at least 12 people in an attack that exposed widening gaps in Ukraine's air defenses, authorities said.
+ Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Russia's missile and drone attacks on Ukraine kill at least 22 Russia unleashed waves of missiles and drones at Ukraine, killing at least 22 people.
− World Russian missile and drone attack on Ukraine's capital kills at least 12 Updated July 6, 20267:18 AM ET Originally published July 6, 20263:41 AM ET By
The Associated Press
Emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following Russian missile attacks in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 6, 2026.
+ The attacks exposed gaps in the country's air defenses more than four years into Moscow's full-scale invasion.
− Danylo Antoniuk/AP hide caption
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia launched waves of missiles and drones at Kyiv early Monday, killing at least 12 people in an attack that exposed widening gaps in Ukraine's air defenses, authorities said.
All of the ballistic missiles launched by Russia struck their targets, underscoring Kyiv's need for more Patriot interceptor missiles — a point Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will likely reiterate at a NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, this week.
+ World Russia's missile and drone attacks on Ukraine kill at least 22 Updated July 6, 20263:38 PM ET Originally published July 6, 20263:41 AM ET By
The Associated Press
The damaged apartment interior in the ruined apartment building following Russia's missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday.
− The attack came hours after Zelenskyy warned that a large-scale attack was imminent.
+ Efrem Lukatsky/AP hide caption
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia unleashed waves of missiles and drones at Ukraine early Monday, killing at least 22 people in attacks that exposed widening gaps in the country's air defenses more than four years into Moscow's full-scale invasion, authorities said.
− Ukraine invasion — explained Inside a secretive Ukrainian team launching deep drone strikes at Russia A further 60 people were wounded, according to Zelenskyy, as emergency workers combed through rubble looking for survivors at residential high-rises in two locations that suffered direct hits.
+ Ukraine invasion — explained Inside a secretive Ukrainian team launching deep drone strikes at Russia All of the ballistic missiles launched by Russia struck their targets, underscoring Kyiv's need for more U.S.-made Patriot interceptor missiles — a point Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will likely reiterate at a NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, this week.
− Days earlier, on Thursday, a Russian strike killed 31 people in Kyiv, the deadliest for the capital this year.
+ Fifteen people were killed in the capital of Kyiv, which was Russia's main target, and 56 were injured, according to administrative head Tymur Tkachenko.
− 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.
+ Another seven people were killed in the wider Kyiv region and 29 were injured, according to Ukraine's emergency service.
− 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.
+ Emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following Russian missile attacks in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 6, 2026.
− 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.
+ Danylo Antoniuk/AP hide caption
Emergency workers searched for survivors in the rubble of residential high-rises in two locations that suffered direct hits.
− But Russia is now exploiting a different kind of momentum: vulnerabilities in Ukraine's air defenses, which remain heavily reliant on the U.S.
+ Moscow has stepped up attacks on Kyiv in retaliation for Ukraine's recent long-range strikes, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
− 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.
+ Those Ukrainian attacks have caused severe fuel shortages and put pressure on President Vladimir Putin.
+ 🎧 Listen to NPR's State of the World podcast, a human perspective on global stories in just a few minutes, every weekday.
On Thursday, a Russian strike killed 31 people in Kyiv, the deadliest attack in the capital this year.
Ukraine's advances in drone technology have given it an edge in recent months, analysts and Western officials say, striking supply routes behind the front line, stripping the Russian army of momentum on the battlefield and slowing its advance.
− Efrem Lukatsky/AP hide caption
Ukraine's air force said Russia fired 351 drones and 68 missiles overnight, targeting mainly Kyiv, and all 29 ballistic missiles struck their targets.
+ Efrem Lukatsky/AP hide caption
But Russia now is exploiting vulnerabilities in Ukraine's air defenses, which remain heavily reliant on the Patriot missile systems to intercept ballistic missiles it can rarely shoot down. The war in the Middle East has strained the global supply of Patriot interceptors — a shortage now felt keenly in Ukraine.
+ Ukraine's air force said Russia fired 351 drones and 68 missiles overnight, targeting mainly Kyiv, and all 29 ballistic missiles struck their targets.
− "Russians are certainly using the fact that there is a serious deficit of interceptor missiles now, in Ukraine and the world."
Ahead of the NATO summit in Ankara, 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.
+ "Russians are certainly using the fact that there is a serious deficit of interceptor missiles now, in Ukraine and the world."
Local residents walk amid debris following a Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 6, 2026.
+ Efrem Lukatsky/AP hide caption
Ahead of the NATO summit in Turkey, Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces had performed well against drones and cruise missiles but not against ballistic missiles — a shortfall he blamed on insufficient supplies of interceptors.
− and European partners to leave the summit with strong decisions to bolster Ukraine's air defense and protect civilian lives.
+ and European partners at the summit to bolster Ukraine's air defense and protect civilians.
− The United States and Europe have enough strength to stop this terror," he said in a statement following the attack.
+ The United States and Europe have enough strength to stop this terror," he said on X following the attack.
− 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 repairing air defense systems and fuel and energy infrastructure in the city and surrounding region.
+ Russia's Defense Ministry said any increase in the supply of drones, missiles and ammunition produced in the West "will not go unnoticed and will be countered by a corresponding increase in the number and power of retaliatory strikes by the Russian armed forces on Ukrainian territory."
Ukraine's Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said Russia is deliberately ramping up ballistic missile attacks on a scale unseen before, exploiting the acute shortage of Patriot interceptors.
+ "Fewer such missiles are produced worldwide each month than the enemy fires at Ukraine in that same period," he said.
Russia's Defense Ministry said the attack targeted weapons factories in Kyiv, including sites it said produce drones, armored vehicles and missiles, as well as facilities repairing air defense systems and fuel and energy infrastructure in the capital and surrounding region.
− Russia's aerial attacks on Ukraine have repeatedly hit civilian areas.
+ Russia's attacks have repeatedly hit civilian areas.
− Places where people slept and lived their ordinary lives," said Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv's Military Administration, in a post on Telegram.
+ Places where people slept and lived their ordinary lives," Tkachenko said in a post on Telegram.
− In the Darnytsia district, several multistory buildings were damaged and people were believed to be trapped under the rubble.
+ In the Darnytsia district, several multistory buildings were damaged and people were believed to be buried in the rubble.
− Local residents walk amid debris following a Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 6, 2026. Efrem Lukatsky/AP hide caption
Khrystyna Piatetska, 20, a resident of Kyiv's Darnytskyi district, said she began screaming after the first strike, which was followed by a second blast that blew out the windows in her apartment building.
+ In Kyiv's suburb of Vyshneve, about 600 residents were evacuated due to the risk of unexploded munitions, Ukraine's Emergency Service said.
− The lights went out, the smell of burning filled the air and the stairwell was thick with smoke, she said.
+ Khrystyna Piatetska, 20, a resident of Kyiv's Darnytskyi district, said she began screaming after the first strike, which was followed by a second blast that blew out the windows in her apartment building.
+ The lights went out, a burning smell filled the air and the stairwell was thick with smoke, she said.
− "When we got downstairs, cars started exploding, and we came out from under the rubble straight into the fire."
Halina Ivanivna, 61, said she woke to the sound of the first strike at around 2 a.m.
+ "When we got downstairs, cars started exploding, and we came out from under the rubble straight into the fire."
Halina Ivanivna, 61, said she was awakened by the first strike about 2 a.m.
− Moments later, her apartment building began to collapse around her.
+ Moments later, her apartment building began collapsing around her.
− 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 Defense Ministry said its air defenses downed 613 of 625 Ukrainian drones overnight.
− Russia's Yaroslavl region Gov.
+ Ukraine's military said its Special Operations Forces struck the Omsk oil refinery in western Siberia, nearly 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles) from Ukraine's border.
− Mikhail Yavrayev said two people were wounded in a Ukrainian drone attack on the city of the same name.
+ That appeared to be the farthest oil refinery in Russia's east that Ukraine has ever struck, and added to a long list of key refineries hit in recent months.
Omsk regional Gov.
− He said over 70 Ukrainian drones were downed.
+ Vitaly Khotsenko confirmed a Ukrainian attack on the refinery in a Telegram post but provided no details, saying only that "most of the drones" targeting the facility were destroyed and that there were no casualties.
The Omsk refinery is Russia's largest, boasting a capacity of around 460,000 barrels a day, said Gary Peach, oil markets analyst at Energy Intelligence.
− Yavrayev didn't say if any facilities were damaged, but Astra online news outlet said the attack targeted an oil refinery, causing a fire.
+ As of the end of June, it was producing close to capacity, accounting for 12% of all Russian refining output, Peach said.
− Russia's Defense Ministry said that air defenses downed 519 Ukrainian drones overnight.
+ "Depending on the extent of the damage, a sustained outage of even part of Omsk's capacity will exacerbate Russia's woes on the domestic fuel market and make the need to find import replacements even more urgent," he said.
+ Russia has been grappling with a widespread fuel crisis from Ukraine's repeated strikes on refineries and other infrastructure inside the country. Gasoline shortages and fuel rationing have been reported in multiple regions, with drivers waiting for hours to fill their tanks.
In Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014, an energy provider reported a blackout across the peninsula following Ukrainian attacks early Monday. The Moscow-appointed head of the city of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said the attacks cut power that was restored with backup equipment.
Ukraine's military confirmed it struck several Russian energy and military facilities used to supply Russia's armed forces with fuel and support its war efforts.
In the Russian city of Yaroslavl, two people were wounded in an attack in which over 70 Ukrainian drones were downed, according to regional Gov. Mikhail Yevrayev. He didn't say if any facilities were damaged, but the Astra online news outlet said they caused a fire at an oil refinery.
Ukrainian drone attack on the Leningrad region north of Moscow damaged unspecified infrastructure at the Luga training ground, as well as in the areas of Baltic Sea ports of Ust-Luga and Vysotsk, Gov. Alexander Drozdenko said.