Russian Strikes on Kyiv Kill at Least Nine as Moscow Says It Hit Ukraine's Military Industry

Russian strikes on Kyiv killed at least nine people and wounded more than two dozen overnight, according to local officials cited by the South China Morning Post, after the city's mayor warned of a ballistic missile attack. The Russian independent outlet Ostorozhno Novosti had reported an early toll of three dead and 15 wounded from Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, but Ukrainian authorities later put the number of wounded at about 28, including four children, with fires and damage recorded across five districts. President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian air defenses intercepted only one of the roughly 30 ballistic missiles Russia fired, which he attributed to a shortage of interceptors. The strikes came after the United Nations found June to be the deadliest month for Ukrainian civilians in three years.

Moscow described the operation in different terms. Russian state agency RIA Novosti, citing the defense ministry, said Russian forces carried out massed strikes on military-industrial enterprises and logistics centers used by Ukraine's armed forces in and around Kyiv, framing the targets as military rather than civilian.

Ukraine's own campaign continued at the same time. Russia's defense ministry said air defenses destroyed 274 drones overnight across 17 Russian regions and the Azov and Black seas, the type of long-range strike Kyiv has used to pressure Russian energy and logistics. President Volodymyr Zelensky has pressed the United States for additional Patriot air-defense missiles to reduce the attacks on Ukrainian cities.