'It was impossible to look at' — Russian mass missile, drone attack on Kyiv kills at least 9, injures 33
Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated as new details emerge.
Russia launched a mass missile and drone attack on Kyiv overnight on June 23, killing at least nine people and injuring 33 others, including four children, local officials reported.
Kyiv Independent journalists heard explosions and kamikaze drones flying overhead from around 1 a.m. Louder explosions from ballistic missiles were heard an hour later, with the attack lasting around 3.5 hours in total.
The heaviest damage occurred in the Shevchenkivskyi district of the city, when a five-story building partially collapsed after being hit by a ballistic missile, Ukraine's military reported. At least nine people died as a result, and more may be trapped under the rubble.
An 11-year-old girl was confirmed as the ninth victim of the strike, Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said. Her mother's body was recovered earlier from the rubble.
Student Veronika Sherinova, who lives in a nearby building, said she didn't sleep all night — first because she was hiding from the attack, then because the missile strike shattered the windows in her home and neighboring apartments.
"Most of my former classmates lived in this building (that was hit), most of my friends and acquaintances, too," she told the Kyiv Independent at the site of the strike. "We got dressed right away and went over."
"When my mom and I arrived, I saw them coming out in just their underwear, covered in blood, wounded. It was impossible to look at. It was pure shock. We were all in a state of shock."
At first, she just wanted to help clear the shattered glass and debris. But after seeing the extent of the destruction, Sherinova realized that some of the people she knew might not have survived the attack.
"The strike hit exactly the floors where our friends lived," she said. "Unfortunately, they didn’t survive. My other friends did — they were on the first floor," she added, her eyes filling with tears.
"It was a miracle they came out without a single scratch. But the upper floors were just blown away, there wasn’t even a chance for anyone up there to survive."
According to Sherinova, the Russian strike killed a family living on the upper floor — a father, mother, and grandfather — but their teenage son survived.
"We suspected it right away, but we didn’t want to believe it until the very end. But then we found out that they were the first ones they carried out," she said. "The boy is in shock right now; he doesn’t realize what’s happened. He’s just not reacting at all."
She said her two other friends who lived in the building left for abroad immediately after the strike.
"They went abroad — they took a bus and left right away."
State Emergency Service spokesperson Svitlana Vodolaha told journalists at the site that when rescuers arrived, they had been told only a few people would be affected there.
"As it turned out, the information we had was not reliable — there were more people here than we had been told. At this moment, we still don’t have complete information on how many people might be trapped under the rubble," Vodolaha said.
"That’s why we’ll keep working until the very end, until we’re completely sure no one is left under the debris."
Shortly after their arrival, rescuers pulled 10 people from under the rubble, including two children and a pregnant woman, Vodolaha said.
Vodolaha did not rule out the use of cluster munitions in this attack. After arriving at the site, Kyiv Independent journalists observed holes in the building across from the one that was hit, resembling those from the previous strike on the capital on June 17.
Cluster munitions are banned under international law by more than 100 countries due to their indiscriminate nature and the long-term threat they pose to civilians, especially when unexploded submunitions remain hidden in residential areas.
"It’s possible as such incidents have happened not only during today’s attack but at other times as well," Vodolaha said.
"I think everyone has noticed how our attacks have become longer and more intense, even across the capital," she added. "That’s why this morning we were working simultaneously at 15 locations."
Fifteen-year-old Roman Turko arrived at the site in the morning after the attack with his friend. His uncle lived in the destroyed building but, luckily, wasn’t home when the strike happened.
"He’s currently serving (in the military), he’s a border guard. He was on duty, so luckily he wasn’t home," Turko told the Kyiv Independent. "His apartment doesn’t really exist anymore: The balcony is gone, the walls are gone."
"If he had been there, it probably would have been the end for him."
After surviving such a heavy attack, Sherinova is now considering leaving Kyiv, at least for a while. But she says it feels like there’s nowhere left to hide from the Russian war.
"There’s a kindergarten nearby where my mom works. It has a shelter, and that’s where we usually go when we see reports of (Russian) jets taking off or a possible strike."
"But today it happened so suddenly, we wouldn’t have had time to run anywhere. We just stepped into the hallway, crouched down, and covered our eyes and ears," she said.
"It’s hitting everywhere, strikes are happening everywhere. I still can’t believe it happened to me, to my neighborhood, where I was born and have lived my whole life."
"I just can’t believe it. I’m still in such a state of shock, looking at all of this and not believing it really happened."
In the wider Kyiv Oblast, a woman was killed and eight others injured in Bila Tserkva, the Kyiv Oblast Military Administration reported.
Casualties were also reported in other areas around the capital in Kyiv Oblast, including Bucha, a town just northwest of Kyiv.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia deployed 368 aerial weapons, including 352 attack drones, 11 Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles, and 5 Iskander-K cruise missiles, striking primarily Kyiv. Ukraine's air defenses destroyed 354 of them.
Russian forces reportedly struck six locations directly, with debris falling in 25 sites across Kyiv and its surrounding region.
Earlier, it was reported that a high-rise apartment building was damaged as a result of the attack in the area, as well as an exit at the Sviatoshyn metro station and a nearby bus shelter.
Reports indicate that the Darnytskyi, Podilskyi, Solomianskyi, Shevchenkivskyi, and Sviatoshynskyi districts had been affected by the attack.
Fires also broke out in the Podilskyi district, where debris struck a residential building and a vehicle.
A large fire was also reported at a four-story office building in the Solomianskyi district. The fire reportedly covered an area of 800 square meters, the State Emergency Service said, with firefighting efforts ongoing.
Drone strike debris also landed in an open area of a stadium in Sviatoshynskyi without causing injuries or fire.
President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack, noting that while Moscow had previously criticized strikes on Iran's nuclear program, it remained silent following its own "cynical" bombardment of Kyiv with Shahed drones and missiles.
"Only in Kyiv, five apartment buildings were damaged. These are ordinary residential buildings," he said, adding that one person was also killed in Bila Tserkva after a Shahed drone hit a hospital.
Zelensky said the attack damaged sites in four Ukrainian regions and involved 352 drones—including 159 Shaheds—and 16 missiles, possibly including North Korean ballistic missiles.
"Every country near Russia, Iran, and North Korea should be thinking about whether they can protect life if this coalition of killers continues spreading terror," Zelensky said.
The attack on the capital comes just days after Russia launched one of its largest attacks on Kyiv, killing 28 people and injuring 134 others.
Russia's latest round of large-scale attacks comes as Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi warned on June 21 that Russian forces are attempting to advance along almost the entire front in eastern Ukraine while trying to establish a buffer zone in northeastern Sumy Oblast.
Martin Fornusek
