- Scale. Russia fired 73 missiles and 656 drones at Ukrainian cities in a single overnight barrage on 2 June 2026, killing at least 22 civilians and wounding 138 — the second major assault on Kyiv within ten days.
- Fact. Ukrainian air defences intercepted 40 missiles and 602 drones, but the volume overwhelmed coverage over Dnipro, where 12 people died in strikes on residential areas.
- Stake. President Zelenskyy said additional American Patriot missiles are “absolutely necessary,” reopening the political debate in Washington over resupply as Russian forces escalate ahead of expected summer offensive operations.
The attack began in the early hours of Monday, 2 June, with ballistic missiles and Shahed-pattern drones targeting multiple Ukrainian cities simultaneously, Al Jazeera reported. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed the capital was struck: “Explosions in the city! Air defence forces are working! Stay in shelters!” Power was knocked out in several Kyiv districts; at least six people died in the capital, including two children among the injured.
Dnipro absorbs the heaviest toll
Dnipro bore the deadliest impact. Governor Oleksandr Hanzha confirmed twelve dead and 37 injured in the region, with 22 hospitalised including a 73-year-old woman with shrapnel wounds and fractures. The strike pattern — targeting Kyiv, Dnipro, Poltava, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia in a coordinated sweep — reflected the same multi-city template Russia used in its record 1,600-drone barrage earlier in the year.
Zelenskyy renews Patriot request
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha characterised the assault as the act of “a war criminal and loser who has no cards except terror.” Zelenskyy, who had warned publicly on Friday that a “massive new strike” was being prepared, pressed Washington again for Patriot missile interceptors, saying US assistance in supplying them was “absolutely necessary.” Ukrainian air defences neutralised the bulk of the salvo — 40 of 73 missiles and 602 of 656 drones — but the gap between Russia’s launch cadence and Ukraine’s available interceptor stock continues to narrow.
Context: sustained escalation
The 2 June attack was the second strike on Kyiv within ten days and formed part of a pattern that Russian President Vladimir Putin has maintained since early spring 2026, capitalising on Ukraine’s reduced US air-defence resupply after Trump’s recalibration of military support. The strikes follow a sustained Russian aerial campaign that analysts say is designed to degrade Ukrainian civilian infrastructure ahead of the summer fighting season, while signalling to domestic audiences in Moscow that the war is progressing.