‘Night of Horror’ – Just as Promised, Russia Hits Ukraine with Massive Airborne Barrage

Just as Russia had promised and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had warned, Moscow fulfilled its pledge to rain hellfire and brimstone on Ukrainian cities. Apparently, the previous two days’ airborne assaults were just dry runs.

Waves of Russian missiles and strike drones pounded Kyiv overnight on July 2, just hours after Zelenskyy again warned that Russia was preparing more large-scale attacks against Ukraine.

At least 21 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 neighborhood. The death toll is expected to rise further.

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said it was a “night of horror” in the capital, which had a pre-war population of roughly 3 million people.

Later on July 2, despite widespread destruction and civilian casualties, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov repeated Moscow’s well-known lies that Russian forces had targeted only “military or quasi-military targets,” adding that Russian leader Vladimir Putin had been briefed on the attack.

According to the latest reports from the ground this morning, the bombardment was one of the most massive and coordinated aerial onslaughts the capital has faced. Russia launched an overwhelming barrage of 74 missiles (including 24 ballistic missiles) and nearly 500 long-range strike drones, intentionally overwhelming air defenses to strike civilian centers. 

The toll is catastrophic and still rising as emergency crews dig through the rubble. At least 21 people have been confirmed dead in Kyiv alone, with over 86 injured – 70 of whom require urgent hospitalization. 

Widespread destruction was visible throughout. Damage has been recorded across all 10 districts of Kyiv on both sides of the Dnipro River. Direct hits and falling debris have struck over 20 residential buildings, including the partial collapse of multi-story apartment blocks in the Darnytskyi and Desnianskyi districts, a hotel on a central boulevard, a research institute, and an ambulance station. 

Other regions of Ukraine were also hit. While Kyiv bore the brunt of the “night of horror,” explosions and casualties have also been reported in several other regions, including the Bucha district and infrastructure nodes in Dnipro, where residential areas were also heavily impacted. 

President Zelenskyy, who cut short a diplomatic visit to Ireland after intelligence warned of the imminent “Goliath” assault, emphasized that this brutal targeting of civilians is a terror tactic aimed at intimidation. Meanwhile, the Kremlin continues its transparent and cynical rhetoric, claiming they only targeted “military or quasi-military” infrastructure, even as footage shows burning apartment buildings and families huddled on subway platforms.  The resilience of the Ukrainian people taking shelter in the metro stations overnight is awe-inspiring, but days like today underscore the profound, urgent cost of delayed air defense systems.

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. Two of the injured are children, DSNS said.

“It was a terrible night for Kyiv,” Klitschko said, adding there was “damage in all districts of the city.”

He declared tomorrow, July 3, a Day of Mourning in the capital. 

Speaking to journalists afterward, Zelenskyy observed, “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 later at the site of a Russian strike in Kyiv’s Darnytskyi district, Zelenskyy 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.

Zelenskyy 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’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.”

The Ukrainian Air Force had warned that groups of Russian drones were approaching Kyiv and other cities, including Mykolaiv, Konotop, and Kherson. About an hour later, it reported additional waves of drones moving toward the capital.

The attacks on Moscow, combined with Ukraine’s increasingly successful operation against Russian logistics in Crimea, have undermined Putin’s claims of battlefield victory — and possibly his grip on power in the Kremlin.

Elsewhere, smaller Russian attacks against Ukraine persisted over the previous 24 hours Zelenskyy said on July 1 that Ukraine had been under Russia’s air attacks “all day.”

In southern Kherson Oblast, 3 people were killed in Russian attacks across various settlements over the past day, 45 were injured, including three children, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on July 2.

In the northeastern Kharkiv Oblast, two people were killed, 48 were injured in Russian attacks across the region, Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said on July 2.

The city of Kharkiv was hit the hardest in the Kharkiv Oblast, as a 15-year-old boy was killed, and 32 civilians were injured in a Russian daytime attack on the city on July 1, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported. Terekhov said the city was attacked with seven glide bombs.

In Odesa Oblast, two people were killed, and 13 were injured following a ballistic missile strike on the region on June 1, Ukraine's State Emergency Service reported. The attack destroyed two warehouses, the agency added.

In eastern Donetsk Oblast, one person was killed, 10 were injured in Russian attacks, Governor Vadym Filashkin said.

In northeastern Sumy Oblast, seven people were injured in Russian attacks, the regional military administration reported.

In Russian attacks on Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, four people were injured over the past day, Governor Oleksandr Hanzha reported on July 1 and July 2.

In southeastern Zaporizhzhia Oblast, three people were injured in Russia's attacks on the region and the city of Zaporizhzhia, Governor Ivan Fedorov said.

Ukraine’s frequent attacks inside Russia, described by Zelenskyy as a 40-day assault, have especially targeted oil refineries, causing a fuel crisis that has frustrated Russians already feeling the war’s economic toll.

World leaders condemned the latest attack and called for increased pressure on Russia through stronger military support for Ukraine and tougher sanctions.

Dutch Defense Minister Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius said Putin’s “atrocities know no bounds” and argued that peace could only be achieved by strengthening Ukraine. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas pledged to propose additional sanctions targeting those supporting Russia's military-industrial complex. Moldovan President Maia Sandu also called for greater pressure on Moscow and stronger support for Ukraine.

European Union Ambassador to Ukraine Katarina Mathernovam, who is currently in Kyiv, described the overnight attack as “hell on Kyiv” in a post on social media. She said residents spent the night in bomb shelters as large parts of the city appeared to be on fire, and warned that the death toll was likely to rise.

Kharkiv, in the East, some 19 miles from the Russian border, has been under a brutal, unrelenting siege over the past 24 to 48 hours, absorbing a distinct and terrifying wave of attacks alongside the broader nationwide onslaught. 

While Kyiv was targeted primarily with long-range cruise and ballistic missiles, Russia has been systematically devastating Kharkiv using a combination of guided glide bombs (KABs) and an increasingly aggressive use of FPV (first-person view) strike drones targeting local neighborhoods. 

In the Kharkiv region, five people, among them a child, were injured after Russian drone attacks struck homes, farms, and other civilian sites. In the Kyiv region, two people were wounded as Russian strikes damaged businesses and civilian infrastructure. In the Dnipro region, Russian attacks hit five districts, injuring two people. Russia also targeted the Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, and Cherkasy regions.

Military observers have detected a dangerous shift in Russian tactics against Ukraine. Local authorities, including Mayor Ihor Terekhov and regional police chief Petro Tokar, have warned of a highly targeted escalation this summer. Russia is weaponizing the city’s proximity to the border by deploying low-altitude FPV drones into civilian sectors that were previously outside their usual range:

Thirty-four FPV drone strikes have successfully penetrated the city limits this year—with 29 of those occurring since May alone. These cheap, highly maneuverable strike drones are actively hunting on a micro-level, intentionally hitting civilian cars, delivery vehicles, and residential doorsteps primarily in Northern Saltivka and the Shevchenkivskyi district. Local ambulance crews have even had to petition for specialized electronic warfare jamming equipment just to protect themselves from being targeted while responding to hit sites. 

In total, across June alone, Kharkiv endured 142 distinct attacks, resulting in 12 deaths and 122 civilian injuries. Despite the daily terror, the city continues to stubbornly rebuild its shattered residential blocks and maintain its underground schools, refusing to empty out.

Russia continues to deliberately strike homes and families. Pressure on Russia must increase, and Ukraine must receive the air defense it urgently needs to protect lives. My thoughts are entirely with the victims, their families, and everyone enduring this terror. The free world, NATO, Europe must stand up and vanquish the evil empire that is Russia.