Russia launched more than 440 drones and 32 missiles across Ukraine overnight on June 16 / 17, with 175 drones and 16 missiles – including ballistic missiles – targeting Kyiv alone, Ukrainian officials reported.
President Volodymyr Zelensky reacted to the massive Russian attack in a Telegram post, calling it “one of the most terrible strikes on Kyiv” since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.
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“Regular reports from Interior Minister Klymenko and military commanders on the situation after the massive Russian strike,” Zelensky wrote. “More than 440 drones and 32 missiles. Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, and Kyiv regions were also attacked during the night.”
He said rescuers were still working to pull people from the rubble of a residential building in Kyiv:
“The Russians destroyed an entire entrance. It is unclear how many people are still trapped. In total, homes in eight districts of Kyiv were damaged.”
The president also expressed condolences to the families of the dead and injured.
“Such attacks are pure terrorism. And the whole world – the US and Europe – must finally react the way a civilized society responds to terrorists. Putin is doing this solely because he is still allowed to continue the war. He wants more wars. It’s dangerous when the powerful of this world turn a blind eye to this.”
Ukraine’s Drone Forces Strike Russian Training Ground in Zaporizhzhia
Ukraine’s Air Force reported that beginning at 8:00 pm on June 16 to the early hours of June 17, Russian forces used:
- 440 Shahed-type strike UAVs and decoy drones (about 280 of them Shaheds);
- 2 Kh-47M2 Kinzhal aero ballistic missiles;
- 16 Kh-101 cruise missiles;
- 4 Kalibr cruise missiles;
- 9 Kh-59/69 guided missiles;
- One Kh-31P anti-radar missile.
“The main direction of the strike was Kyiv! As of 10:00 [17 June], air defenses neutralized 428 enemy aerial targets: 262 were shot down, and 166 were lost due to electronic warfare,” the Air Force reported.
Their slightly different updated breakdown of the weapons included:
- 239 Shahed-type drones shot down by fire, with another 163 lost due to electronic warfare suppression.
- One Kinzhal missile was shot down, and one lost by location.
- 15 Kh-101 cruise missiles destroyed.
- 7 Kh-59/69 missiles shot down, with another one lost by location.
- One Kh-31P anti-radar missile lost by location.
Despite the efforts of air defense, hits were recorded in 10 locations, with debris falling in 34 other areas.
“We express our condolences to the families of the dead and injured,” the Air Force statement said.
Timur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration (KMVA), confirmed that Russia used 175 drones, more than 14 cruise missiles, and at least two ballistic missiles in the attack on Kyiv and the surrounding area.
“The nature of the damage shows direct hits on residential buildings, from the upper floors to the basements,” Tkachenko said. “We are dealing with a f***ed up enemy.”
In Kyiv, 27 sites across several districts were struck, according to Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko.
Two apartment buildings in the Solomianskyi district were among the hardest hit – one caught fire, while the other partially collapsed, with the entire entrance section caving in.
A couple was seen sitting amid the debris, waiting for their son to be rescued from under the rubble. By 9 am, there was still no update on the boy’s fate.
Kyiv Post editors were among those jolted awake as waves of drones approached the capital from multiple directions.
A Kyiv Post correspondent living in the hardest-hit Solomianskyi district experienced three major waves: the first around 1:30 am, the second - the most devastating - around 4 am when ballistic missiles struck nearby, and the third at approximately 5:30 am following another powerful drone onslaught.
“Last night was the first time in the past 3.5 years that I truly felt I was going to die. It was pure hell,” they said
Elsewhere in Kyiv:
- In Dniprovsky, drone fragments were found embedded in a residential building.
- In Obolonsky, debris landed on a car.
- In Podilsky, debris fell in an open area.
- A dormitory at the Kyiv Aviation Institute was also damaged.
In Odesa, drone strikes sparked fires and injured 13 people, including a child, according to regional governor Oleh Kiper. Residential buildings, a preschool, and garages were damaged. Search and rescue efforts were ongoing.
In the Zaporizhzhia region, Russian strikes hit an industrial site and damaged nearby homes, regional governor Ivan Fedorov reported.
This news might be updated as more details emerge
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