Russia pummels Kyiv ahead of NATO summit

KYIV – Russia carried out its fourth large-scale airborne attack on Kyiv this month, not including the daily localized drone strikes. As of midday on June 23, at least seven civilians have been killed and 31 injured. 

Rescue operations are still underway.

“A nighttime attack on Kyiv and the surrounding region. Intense missile and drone strikes targeting residential neighborhoods, hospitals, and sports facilities,” said the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.

Six out of the city’s ten administrative districts were affected by the attack. 

“The heaviest damage was in the centrally located Shevchenko district, where an entire entrance of a residential high-rise was destroyed,” the emergency service said.

The campus of the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute in the Solomianskyi district was also hit during the attack.

The attackers also struck the wider Kyiv region, damaging residential and medical infrastructure. One civilian was killed and eight others were injured.

“Russia has once again demonstrated that it does not recognize civilian infrastructure. For us, nothing is more valuable than the life of every Ukrainian,” the State Emergency Service said.

In total, Ukraine’s air defense systems intercepted 354 of the 368 drones and missiles launched overnight across the country. Strikes were recorded in six locations, with debris falling in 25 areas across Kyiv and the Kyiv region, according to the Air Force.

On the evening of June 21, Russian forces hit a high-rise building in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, causing part of the structure to collapse. Five people were killed, according to Oleksandr Honcharenko, head of the Kramatorsk City Military Administration.

Russia attacks Ukrainian cities and villages daily. The Ukrainian World Congress publishes news on the largest shelling incidents. More detailed information on the consequences of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine can be found in the Victory Chronicles.