(Updated: )
Editor's Note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
Russia launched a mass missile and drone attack against Ukraine overnight on June 6, targeting the capital, major cities, and the country's far-western regions.
The attack comes a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to retaliate against Ukraine for its drone strike against Russian air bases in a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Air raid alerts were activated in all Ukrainian regions, following Russia's latest mass attack. Ukraine's Air Force warned during the night that multiple Russian Tu-95MS strategic bombers had taken flight and likely already launched cruise missiles.
Explosions were reported in Kyiv, Ternopil, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Lviv, Lutsk, and other cities as drones and missiles targeted all regions of the country.
Ukraine's Air Force reported that Russia launched 452 drones overnight, including Iranian-designed Shahed-type suicide drones, along with 45 missiles of various types.
Air defenses intercepted 199 drones, while another 169 dropped off radars — likely used as decoys to overwhelm Ukrainian systems. Ukrainian forces also intercepted 36 missiles, including the Iskander-M ballistic missile.
"Russia doesn't change its stripes — another massive strike on cities and ordinary life. They targeted almost all of Ukraine — Volyn, Lviv, Ternopil, Kyiv, Sumy, Poltava, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy, and Chernihiv regions," President Volodymyr Zelensky said the morning after the attacks.
"Russia must be held accountable for this. Since the first minute of this war, they have been striking cities and villages to destroy life."
Tim Zadorozhnyy
Kyiv
Multiple fires broke out across Kyiv as drones struck residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure. Explosions and falling debris were reported in several districts, including Solomianskyi, Holosiivskyi, Darnytskyi, Dniprovskyi, and Shevchenkivskyi.
Three people were killed overnight, Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported. Ukraine's State Emergency Service later confirmed that the victims were rescue workers responding to the attack.
Another 23 people in Kyiv were injured, including 14 emergency responders. A child was among the injured.
According to Ukraine's largest private energy company, DTEK,2,167 families on the left bank of Kyiv were left without electricity due to Russian attacks.
Dmytro Basmat
A Russian drone struck the 11th floor of a 16-story apartment block in the Solomianskyi district, igniting a fire, the Kyiv City Military Administration reported. Three people were rescued, and the fire has since been extinguished. A fire also broke out at an industrial site in the area.
In the Holosiivskyi district, debris hit a residential building, sparking a blaze and causing yet-to-be-assessed damage. An educational institution was damaged in the attack and falling drone wreckage landed near a gas station, damaging a car.
Another erupted on the 17th floor of a residential high-rise in the Darnytskyi district. Medics were called to the site of the attack.
The administration also reported "significant damage" to a gas station in the city's Dniprovskyi district.
The attack damaged tracks and cables on the metro line between the Darnytsia and Livoberezhna stations, causing closures and route disruptions. Repair work is expected to be completed in 24 hours, the administration said.
Dmytro Basmat
Western Ukraine
In the western city of Ternopil, Russia struck infrastructure and industrial facilities with Shahed drones and Kalibr cruise missiles, according to Mayor Serhii Nadal. Part of the city lost electricity.
Eleven people were injured, including five emergency workers.
Ternopil lies hundreds of kilometers from the front line and is not a frequent target of Russian attacks.
Casualties were also reported in Lutsk in northwestern Ukraine amid the mass strike. At least one person was killed and 27 more injured, according to the State Emergency Service. Rescue workers believe more victims may be buried beneath the rubble.
Ihor Polishchuk, the city's mayor, said that the roof of an apartment building was damaged, as were vehicles, commercial properties, and a government institution. According to the mayor, Russia attacked Lutsk with 15 drones and six missiles.
Russia's retaliation
Russia's mass attack injured dozens of people and caused destruction across the country.
Ukraine had been bracing for a large-scale assault after the Kremlin threatened revenge for Operation Spiderweb — Ukraine's audacious drone strike that damaged 41 Russian bombers on June 1.
After speaking with Putin over the phone on June 4, Trump warned that the Kremlin was planning a response to Ukraine's strike. While Putin has stayed publicly silent on Ukraine's attack, Trump said Russia's retaliation was "not going to be pretty."
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed on the morning of June 6 that the overnight attack was a "response" to Operation Spiderweb and alleged that the "goal of the strike was achieved" and the "designated objects were hit."
But Moscow needs no excuse to bombard Ukraine with drones and missiles, as the mass strikes Russia launched against Ukrainian cities in the days before Spiderweb prove. For three consecutive nights in the last week of May, Russia targeted Ukraine with some of the heaviest aerial attacks since the start of the full-scale war.
Aerial strikes against civilian targets have been a regular feature of Russia's all-out war since February 2022.
Russia continues to reject calls for a ceasefire and Putin has said he is no longer interested in negotiating with Ukraine.
Olena Goncharova
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