Ukraine war latest: 'Serious destruction' — massive Russian missile, drone attack on Kyiv kills at least 22, injures nearly 90

Key developments on July 2:

• 'Serious destruction' — massive Russian missile, drone attack on Kyiv kills at least 22, injures nearly 90;
• Ukraine urgently appeals to nearly 40 allies for Patriot interceptors
• Russia's overnight attack destroys around 800,000 Ukrainian books
• Ukraine strikes major Russian oil refinery, railway bridge in Russian-occupied Luhansk Oblast, General Staff says
• Ukraine's Brave1 signs first major Western defense industry partnership with Airbus

Waves of Russian missiles and strike drones pummeled Kyiv overnight on July 2, just hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russia was preparing another large-scale attack against Ukraine.

At least twenty-two people have been killed, Kyiv City Military Administration Head Tymur Tkachenko said. Ukraine's State Emergency Service  (DSNS) added that search and rescue operations were ongoing at several sites including a partially collapsed multi-story residential building in the Darnitskyi District. The death toll is likely to rise further.

Later on July 2, despite widespread destruction and civilian casualties, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov claimed Russian forces had targeted only "military or quasi-military targets," adding that Russian leader Vladimir Putin had been briefed on the attack.

Speaking to journalists afterward, Zelensky said, "Putin is losing this war. That’s what’s happening. He understands that the only thing he can do is intimidate people and simply kill civilians with missile strikes."

Speaking to journalists at the site of a Russian strike in Kyiv's Darnytskyi district, Zelensky said Russia's attack exposed Ukraine's continuing shortage of air defense interceptors.

"If our partners had delivered what they promised on time, I think we could have saved more homes and, frankly, more lives," he said.

Zelensky said Ukraine would need at least 140 Patriot missiles to intercept an attack involving around 70 ballistic missiles, arguing that Kyiv was not asking for additional commitments but for previously agreed military assistance to be delivered.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko put the number of injured at 86, 70 of whom had been hospitalized, and described the attack as the "most massive" of the war on the capital.

"It was a terrible night for Kyiv," he said, adding there was "damage in all districts of the city." A Day of Mourning on July 3 has been declared in Kyiv, Klitschko said. Two of the injured are children, DSNS said.

Ukraine's Air Force said Russia launched 74 missiles and 496 long-range drones during the attack, most of which targeted Kyiv. Forty-eight missiles and 476 drones were shot down or suppressed but 25 ballistic missiles and 12 drones struck 33 locations.

0:00/1:011×The video shared by Ukraine's State Emergency Service shows the aftermath of the Russian attack on Kyiv Ukraine on July 2, 2026. (Ukraine's State Emergency Service / Telegram)

Twenty-eight of the missiles fired at Kyiv were ballistic missiles, a record number for a single attack on the capital, Yuriy Ignat, spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, said on national TV.

As of 7:00 a.m. local time, damage and destruction had been recorded at more than 30 locations across all districts of Kyiv as a result of the attack.

"An ambulance station, a scientific institute, a hotel, and businesses have also been destroyed," President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on social media.

DTEK, Ukraine's largest private energy company, said the attack also damaged its energy infrastructure in Kyiv, leaving some residents without electricity. The company said emergency crews were dispatched to the affected sites as soon as the security situation allowed.

The attack also disrupted internet service after damaging equipment belonging to major provider Utels, which connects around 500,000 homes and businesses in Kyiv and the Oblast. The company said service had been restored in central Kyiv by midday.

"The enemy is once again targeting residential areas and killing civilians. We have very serious destruction and a significant number of victims, including children," Tkachenko said.

Kyiv's metro sheltered a record 52,500 people, including nearly 4,500 children, during Russia's overnight attack, the Kyiv Metro said on Telegram. All 46 underground stations served as bomb shelters during the air raid.

Many residents also sheltered in underground parking garages.

"The moment we stepped out of the underground parking garage, a ballistic missile struck," Hanna Polishchuk, who lives in the residential building next to the one that partially collapsed in the Darnitskyi District, told the Kyiv Independent.

"Everyone immediately ran back inside. There was complete panic. There was such an enormous explosion. It felt as though the whole parking garage was about to collapse, like everything around us was falling apart."

Ukraine urgently appeals to nearly 40 allies for Patriot interceptors

Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has appealed to nearly 40 partner countries to urgently transfer Patriot missiles from their stockpiles in July in exchange for future deliveries already contracted for Ukraine, the Defense Ministry said on July 2.

The appeal comes after Russia launched one of its largest-ever aerial assaults against Kyiv overnight on July 2, killing at least 22 people and overwhelming Ukraine's air defenses with dozens of ballistic and cruise missiles alongside hundreds of drones.

According to the Defense Ministry, Ukraine has already signed contracts for hundreds of PAC-2 Patriot missiles with German support, but deliveries are not expected to begin until the coming years.

Kyiv has also taken "a step" toward purchasing around 100 additional Patriot missiles through a 1 billion euro loan backed by the European Union, while European partners have begun transferring missiles from their own stockpiles for the first time this year, according to the ministry.

The Defense Ministry added that Ukraine has more than doubled the effectiveness of Patriot systems against maneuvering Russian Iskander missiles by implementing NATO's After Action Review standard.

"However, this is not enough. Ukraine critically needs additional Patriot missiles, which are available in partners' stockpiles," the ministry said, adding that protecting Ukraine's skies depends on swift decisions — including expanding the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL), a NATO-coordinated mechanism for purchasing U.S.-made weapons for Ukraine, and procuring missiles through JUMPSTART, a U.S. program that speeds up delivery of PAC-3 missiles.

Fedorov also called on partner countries to contribute to the PURL and JUMPSTART initiatives, which the ministry described as the fastest and most reliable mechanisms for supplying Patriot missiles to Ukraine.

Speaking at the site of a Russian strike in Kyiv's Darnytskyi district earlier on July 2, President Volodymyr Zelensky said delayed military aid had cost Ukrainian lives.

"If our partners had delivered what they promised on time, I think we could have saved more homes and, frankly, more lives," Zelensky said.

The president said Ukraine would need at least 140 Patriot missiles to intercept an attack involving around 70 ballistic missiles.

"We are fighting on our own. The casualties are exclusively Ukrainian. We simply need our partners to do what they agreed to do. We're not even asking for more," he added.

Patriot is the only air defense system in Ukraine's arsenal capable of intercepting Russian ballistic missiles. Ukraine operates only a limited number of Patriot batteries and has repeatedly warned that shortages of interceptor missiles leave cities vulnerable during large-scale Russian attacks involving ballistic missiles.

Russia's overnight attack destroys around 800,000 Ukrainian books

The latest Russian attack on Kyiv overnight on July 2 destroyed around 800,000 books in BookChef's inventory, the Ukrainian publishing house reported.

Seventy-four missiles and 496 long-range drones were launched by Russia, most of which targeted Kyiv. At least 21 people have been killed and 90 injured in Ukraine's capital, with the casualty numbers likely to rise as rescue operations continue.

According to BookChef, the central warehouse of their logistics partner — where their books were stored — was completely destroyed. However, there are no casualties reported among warehouse employees.

"That is what we are holding on to right now," the publishing house wrote.

The publishing house is just the latest business to face a major setback because of damages inflicted by Russian attacks.

Ukraine's publishing industry previously overcame a major setback in 2024 when a Russian attack on Kharkiv, where nearly 80% of books in Ukraine are published, destroyed over 50,000 books in the Faktor Druk printing house.

BookChef publishing house describes itself as "modern Ukrainian publishing house of global bestsellers." It specializes in books on self-development, motivational literature, young adult fiction, and fantasy.

"These are books that authors, translators, editors, illustrators, designers, printers, managers, and logistics teams worked on. This represents years of work by a great number of people," BookChef said, underscoring the loss inlifcted by the attack.

Ukraine strikes major Russian oil refinery, railway bridge in Russian-occupied Luhansk Oblast, General Staff says

Ukraine struck one of Russia's largest oil refineries and targets in Russian-occupied territories, including a railway bridge, overnight on July 2, Ukraine's General Staff said.

According to the General Staff, Ukrainian forces hit the Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez oil refinery in the city of Kstovo in Russia's Nizhny Novgorod Oblast as part of efforts to "reduce Russia's military and economic potential."

The Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez refinery is Russia's fourth-largest oil refinery and second-largest producer of gasoline with an annual processing capacity of around 17 million metric tons of crude oil. It also produces diesel fuel, jet fuel, lubricants, and other petroleum products, including supplies used by the Russian military.

The General Staff said the strike caused a fire at the facility and damaged the refinery's AVT-6 primary crude oil processing unit. The extent of the damage is still being assessed.

Nizhny Novgorod Oblast Governor Gleb Nikitin said in a Telegram post on the morning of July 2 that the region has been repelling drone attacks by Ukraine since the night, while the region's air defense forces destroyed 30 aerial targets. He reported one person was killed in the attack.

The Lukoil-Nizhegorodorgsintez refinery halted operations after being damaged in a previous Ukrainian drone attack, Reuters reported on June 25, citing two industry sources.

Since the beginning of 2026, Ukraine has stepped up long-range drone strikes on Russian energy assets, including multiple strikes on facilities in and around Moscow. The campaign has focused on oil refineries and fuel depots, which are critical to sustaining Russia's war effort.

Ukraine also struck targets inside Russian-occupied territories overnight on July 2  the General Staff said.

Ukrainian forces hit a railway bridge over the Siverskyi Donets River near the occupied town of Stanytsia Luhanska, Luhansk Oblast. Russian forces use the bridge to transport troops, weapons, and military equipment.

The General Staff also reported strikes on a Russian command and observation post near Vilshana in Russian-occupied Kharkiv Oblast, and a Russian drone warehouse near Kamianka in Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

Ukraine's Brave1 signs first major Western defense industry partnership with Airbus

Aerospace giant Airbus signed a memorandum of understanding with Brave1, Ukraine's government-sponsored defense technology ecosystem, as military ties deepen between Kyiv and Europe.

Airbus and Brave1 will collaborate on research, testing of military technologies on Ukraine's front lines, and modernizing equipment, according to a Brave1 press release shared with journalists on July 2, with the goal of fast-tracking defense innovation.

Ukraine and Europe's mil-tech ecosystems have increasingly entangled off the back of Russia's continued war in Ukraine, and an increasingly antagonistic U.S. towards Europe under the second Donald Trump administration.

As Ukraine has racked up expertise and a burgeoning mil-tech scene of its own, allies and international defense companies have increasingly sought to learn from Kyiv.

"This agreement marks Brave1's first industrial strategic partnership with a top-tier Western defense corporation under its new Brave Prime initiative, a dedicated framework for integrating global defense leaders directly into Ukraine's combat-tested innovation ecosystem," Brave1 said in the press release.

The memorandum was signed on June 30 at a Brave1 Advantage event held in Kyiv. The event organizers asked the press to withhold publication until after the conference for security reasons.

Brave1 is Ukraine's official mil-tech cluster, bringing together investors, companies, and the military, as well as serving as a marketplace for the military.

Sweden's Saab also signed a memorandum with Brave1 during the conference, but further details have not yet been disclosed.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov announced on July 1 that Ukraine will allow its domestic weapons producers to export for the first time to a list of 27 partner countries, many of whom are European nations.