Poland scrambled fighter jets in the early hours today as a preventive measure as Russia launched a major aerial attack on Kyiv.
At least eight people were killed and 30 people were injured as several residential buildings were set ablaze in the Russian drones and missiles barrage. A hotel in Kyiv’s central boulevard was also on fire, officials said.
The attack comes hours after president Volodymyr Zelensky warned Russia was planning a massive night-time attack and said he was cutting short his visit to Dublin for the start of Ireland’s six-month term in the rotating presidency of the EU.
Ukraine’s commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi had also said Russian president Vladimir Putin has ordered his military to find ways in which Russia can launch new offensive operations on Ukraine to capture Kyiv.
These include Russian offensives launched from Belarusian territory to capture the Ukrainian capital and its surrounding areas, Syrskyi said.
In Russia, attacks have reached northwestern Leningrad region, Putin’s home and where large export and oil refining facilities are located, and air defences brought down six drones today, officials said.
Watch: Crew rescues survivors after Putin’s latest attack on Kyiv
Putin’s hometown Leningrad comes under Ukrainian drone attack
Ukrainian drones have targeted Russia’s Leningrad region, where Vladimir Putin’s home is situated, as Russian forces brought down seven drones, governor Alexander Drozdenkoof said this morning.
Leningrad is also home to large export and oil refining facilities.
Ukraine has recently intensified strikes deeper into the Russian territory, triggering a widespread fuel crisis in the world’s third-biggest oil producer and forcing it to import gasoline from as far away as India.
Casualties rise in Kyiv as overnight attack leaves buildings on fire
At least eight people were killed and over three dozen were wounded as Russian forces attacked the Ukrainian capital Kyiv overnight, officials said.
Russian drones and missiles struck residential buildings and started a fire in a hotel on a central boulevard.
Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said 34 more were injured, adding that among the damages, the first to sixth floors of an apartment building collapsed after a direct hit.
Reuters video footage showed emergency services working through the rubble of that used to be a nine-storey building as the sun started to rise over Kyiv.
In an earlier post, Klitschko said the injured included paramedics and drivers at an ambulance station, and that some people were still trapped inside damaged residential buildings.
Pictures posted online showed a fire burning out of control at the top of a building on the central Shevchenko Boulevard, while elsewhere in the city, windows blew out and cars were destroyed. Multiple explosions were heard in Kyiv, a Reuters witness said.
In photos: Kyiv bombed with ballistic missiles overnight
Poland scrambles jets as Ukraine bombed overnight
Ukraine’s neighbour Poland, a Nato and European Union member, scrambled fighter jets on Thursday as a preventive measure.
Shortly after, the Polish Armed Forces said the fighter jets flights have been ended as no airspace violation was recorded.
Two killed and 16 injured as Russia launches overnight drone and missile attack on Kyiv
Russian forces attacked the Ukrainian capital Kyiv overnight killing at least two people and injuring more than a dozen, as drones and missiles struck residential buildings and started a fire in a hotel on a central boulevard.
President Volodymyr Zelensky had earlier warned of a possible overnight attack and said he was cutting short his visit to Dublin for the start of Ireland’s six-month term in the rotating presidency of the EU.
Tymur Tkachenko, head of the capital’s military administration, said two people had been killed and 16 injured. He did not elaborate.
Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko, writing on Telegram, said the first to sixth floors of an apartment building collapsed after a direct hit.
In an earlier post, he said the injured included paramedics and drivers at an ambulance station, and that some people were still trapped inside damaged residential buildings.
Pictures posted online showed a fire burning out of control at the top of a building on the central Shevchenko Boulevard. Multiple explosions were heard in Kyiv, a Reuters witness said.
Carrying children, belongings, tents and pets, people crowded into underground stations, as air raid alerts were issued for most of Ukraine’s territory on Thursday in Russia’s worst attack on the country since mid-June.
Russia buys gasoline from India to tackle shortages – report
Russia has started seaborne imports of gasoline from India, two industry sources said, in an effort to mitigate fuel shortages triggered by Ukrainian attacks on its energy infrastructure.
Fuel shortages are being felt across Russia’s 11 time zones with rationing, long queues at filling stations and a record gasoline price increase.
The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Russia was in contact with other countries and discussing imports of fuel at acceptable prices.
An industry source told Reuters that at least 60,000 metric tons of gasoline have been dispatched from India to Russia.
Another source said that two tankers, with parcels of 30,000 to 40,000 tons each, have been sent.
A third source said that in total, Russia plans to import 400,000 tons of gasoline from various countries each month, including from neighbouring Belarus, which has already been exporting fuel to Russia.
Gasoline consumption in Russia is at least 110,000 tons per day in summer, when demand for fuel is high.
It is not clear which Indian refiner will be supplying gasoline to Russia.
President Vladimir Putin acknowledged on Sunday at a meeting with government ministers and other officials that Ukrainian drone strikes on oil refineries had triggered fuel shortages in some regions, but said that Russia was dealing with them.
Russia approved secret China military training at top level, sources say
China’s covert military training of Russian forces last year was personally approved by president Vladimir Putin’s defence minister and directly involved at least four Russian and Chinese generals, according to two European officials and documents seen by Reuters.
The officials said the involvement of such high-ranking individuals in training linked to the Ukraine war signalled the importance for Russia and China of such cooperation, which has caused alarm in Europe even as Beijing has denied it took place.
A classified Russian document seen by Reuters directly referred to an internal decree issued by defence minister Andrei Belousov in August, 2025.
It said that, in accordance with a decision by Belousov, a delegation from Russia’s armed forces travelled to China to participate in training exercises at People’s Liberation Army (PLA) facilities.
The report and a second one described and displayed images of Russian soldiers being lectured by a Chinese instructor, looking at a model nuclear reactor, and being taught about “chemical reconnaissance”, “radiation reconnaissance” and protecting ventilation systems from contamination.
The inclusion of radiological, biological and chemical warfare training underlined the strategic nature of the exchanges, one of the European officials said, noting that the topic was particularly sensitive for militaries in general.
Why Ukraine wants £5.56bn of EU peace funds to be directed towards military aid
As we earlier reported, Ukraine is asking the EU to direct €6.6 billion (£5.68bn) available under the European Peace Facility to military aid, to take advantage of what it sees as a six-to-nine-month “window of opportunity” on the battlefield.
Ukraine is set to receive about €28.3 billion for defence purposes this year from the €90-billion EU loan, but even with that and Kyiv’s own funding, “substantial” defence financing needs remain unmet, Fedorov said in the letter, dated June 26.
The funds under the EPF could become “one of the most impactful European contributions to Ukraine’s defence effort this year, but only if those resources are directed where they can generate the greatest and most immediate military effect,” he said.
Ukraine’s total defence need is estimated at around €136 billion this year, with the Ukrainian budget covering around €53 billion of that amount, defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov said in a letter.
Russia’s advances have slowed this year, with Ukraine staging successful counterattacks on some parts of the frontline and leveraging its mid- and long-range attacks on Russian territory to disrupt Moscow’s logistics and curb its oil revenue.
Separately, Fedorov told a news conference on June 17 that he was seeking an additional $20 billion in military funding from the Ukraine Defence Contact Group — an alliance of 50 nations, also known as the Ramstein group, that provides aid to Ukraine — on top of $40 billion already committed.
In pictures: Russia launches attack on Kramatorsk, Donetsk region
Alex Croft2 July 2026 00:30NewerOlder