Russian military forces launched a series of missile and drone strikes on Kyiv and Odesa in mid-June 2025, killing several civilians.
These attacks represent an intensified campaign by Russia to pressure the Ukrainian government and force strategic concessions. Officials said the assault was massive and virtually nonstop.
The strikes caused significant destruction in the capital, including the flattening of an apartment block. Reports on the death toll vary across sources. One report said 13 people died, including a child, during what it described as the deadliest aerial attack of the year on a Thursday [7]. Other reports cited at least 18 deaths across Kyiv and Odesa combined [4].
Specific tolls for the Kyiv apartment block attack include claims of nine deaths [5], while other sources reported between four [6] and seven [1] fatalities in the city.
The scale of the aerial campaign was substantial. Some reports indicate that more than 1,500 Russian drones and dozens of missiles were launched over a two-day period [2, 3]. Other data suggests around 700 drones and missiles were fired across Ukraine on a single Thursday [8].
Ukrainian officials have called for increased international pressure on Russia following these events. The strikes targeted both residential areas, and critical infrastructure, continuing a pattern of aerial warfare designed to destabilize urban centers.
“Russian military forces launched a series of missile and drone strikes on Kyiv and Odesa”
The variation in casualty and weapon counts highlights the difficulty of real-time verification in active conflict zones. However, the consistent reporting of flattened residential infrastructure and child casualties underscores a Russian strategy of targeting non-combatant areas to erode Ukrainian morale and force a negotiated settlement.
