Russia Launches Massive Air Strike on Kyiv, Killing at Least 21 in 'Retaliation'

At least 21 people have been killed and approximately 90 injured after Russia launched a massive air strike on the Ukrainian capital in retaliation for what it described as Ukrainian attacks on its own civilian infrastructure.

According to Reuters and AP reports on July 2 (local time), Russia fired 74 missiles and 496 drones at Ukraine from the night of July 1 through the early hours of July 2.

Kyiv city authorities stated that in Kyiv alone, 20 people were killed and 90, including children, were injured.

The strikes were heavily concentrated on civilian facilities, causing a fire at a hotel and damaging 20 residential buildings, with damage confirmed at a total of over 30 buildings.

Photos were shared online showing intense flames rising from the roof of a building on Shevchenko Boulevard in central Kyiv.

In the central Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk, Governor Serhiy Lysak reported that a 7-year-old girl was killed and four members of her family were injured in a Russian guided bomb attack.

According to the DPA news agency, the local Ukrainian media outlet The Kyiv Independent reported that this attack was one of the most intense since Russia's invasion in 2022.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha described the attack as a "night of terror" on X (formerly Twitter), adding that the death toll could rise further depending on the progress of rescue operations.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was visiting Ireland, stated prior to the attack that he had received "unpleasant information" regarding a large-scale Russian assault, leading him to cut his visit short and return immediately to Ukraine.

President Zelenskyy later stated, "The supply of air defense systems to Ukraine is the top priority," adding that it is crucial to push for the realization of agreements on the production of ballistic missile interception systems.

The Russian Ministry of Defense stated in a Telegram post that it had carried out a large-scale attack on Kyiv and other regions using long-range, high-precision weapons and drones.

The Russian Ministry of Defense added that "this attack was in retaliation for Ukrainian strikes targeting Russian civilian infrastructure," noting that it had hit energy facilities around Kyiv as well as military airfields in Poltava and Dnipropetrovsk.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, had reported the results of this "massive retaliatory strike" to President Vladimir Putin, claiming that the attack was "carried out exclusively against military facilities or military-related targets."

Recently, Ukraine has been intensifying its offensive by using drones to repeatedly strike oil refineries, energy infrastructure, and military communication facilities within Russian territory, including Moscow.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.