Russia Unleashes Massive Aerial Bombardment on Ukraine, Killing at Least 22 Civilians
Russia launched one of its largest aerial attacks of the war overnight on June 2, firing 656 drones and 73 missiles at Ukrainian cities including Kyiv, Dnipro, and Kharkiv, killing at least 22 people and wounding over 130. President Zelenskyy called on Western allies to urgently increase air defense shipments.
Scale of the Attack
Russia launched hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles against Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities overnight, killing at least 22 civilians and wounding 138 others, authorities said Tuesday. Russia unleashed 73 missiles and 656 drones across Ukraine, according to the country's air force, with the main targets including Kyiv, Dnipro and the eastern cities of Poltava, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia.
Ukrainian Defense Efforts
Ukrainian air defenses destroyed or suppressed 40 missiles and 602 drones. At least six people were killed in Kyiv and 16 people including two children were killed in Dnipro, local Ukrainian officials said. Emergency rescue crews digging through the wreckage of apartment buildings pulled out the bodies of a 3-year-old child as well as those of a woman and her 8-year-old son in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, officials said.
Putin's Strategic Objectives
Russian President Vladimir Putin has escalated Moscow's aerial campaign in recent weeks in an apparent bid to take advantage of Ukraine's shortage of U.S.-made air defense systems and persuade an increasingly pessimistic audience at home that Moscow is prevailing in the 4-year-old war.
Zelenskyy's Appeal for Support
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed for more U.S. and European support, describing the massive overnight attack as "an explicit statement by Russia: If Ukraine is not protected from ballistic missiles and other missile strikes, those strikes will continue". The foreign minister called on Ukraine's foreign backers to unlock more European funding for NATO's PURL program through which Kyiv can obtain more American weapons and ammunition, including anti-missile defenses like the Patriot system, and urged partners to increase investment in Ukraine's own long-range capabilities.