Four killed, 80 wounded in intense Russian air attacks on Ukraine
By
Thomas Peter, Anna Voitenko
and
Anastasiia Malenko,
Reuters
People stand outside an apartment block in the Solomianskyi district damaged by an overnight Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, on June 6, 2025.
Photo:
AFP / NurPhoto/ Kirill Chubotin
Russia launched an intense missile and drone barrage at the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in the early hours of Friday, killing four people, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, as powerful explosions reverberated across the country.
The attacks followed a warning from Russian President Vladimir Putin,
conveyed via US President Donald Trump
, that the Kremlin would hit back after Ukrainian drones
destroyed several strategic bomber aircraft
in attacks deep inside Russia.
Zelensky said three emergency responders were killed in the missile and drone salvo against the capital. Another person died in an attack on the northwestern city of Lutsk.
"Those killed in Kyiv were rescue workers who arrived at the scene of an initial strike and, unfortunately, were killed in a repeat Russian strike," Zelensky said in his nightly video address.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, writing on X, said Russia had "'responded' to its destroyed aircraft... by attacking civilians in Ukraine.... Multi-storey buildings hit. Energy infrastructure damaged."
Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces had carried out the strike on military and military-related targets in response to what it called Ukrainian "terrorist acts" against Russia.
Zelensky said 80 people nationwide had been injured in the attacks, which also struck several other towns and cities. He said residents could still be trapped under rubble.
In Lutsk, the national emergency service said 30 people were injured in addition to the one death. Prosecutors said the attack damaged private homes, educational institutions and a government building.
Russian forces also struck industrial facilities and infrastructure in the western city of Ternopil, leaving parts of it without power, mayor Serhii Nadal said.
The regional administration said the attack had injured 10 people and asked residents to temporarily stay inside due to a high concentration of toxic substances in the air after a fire.
The air force said Russia had used 407 drones, one of the largest numbers recorded in a single attack. Forty-five cruise and ballistic missiles were also fired, it said.
Kyiv's metro transport system was disrupted by a Russian strike that hit and damaged tracks between stations, the military administration said. The state rail company said it was also diverting some trains due to rail damage outside the city.
Reuters witnesses reported a series of booming explosions powerful enough to rattle windows far from the impact sites.
Some Kyiv residents sought shelter in metro stations, or in underground car parks.
In the capital's Solomianskyi district, a Russian drone slammed into the side of an apartment building, leaving a gaping hole and burn marks, a Reuters photographer at the scene said.
Falling concrete blocks from the building crushed cars parked below. Two police investigators were examining what appeared to be the drone's engine.
Earlier in the night, Reuters reporters heard the sound of Russian kamikaze drones buzzing in the sky, accompanied by the sounds of outgoing fire from Ukrainian anti-aircraft batteries.
Zelensky called for concerted pressure on Russia.
"If someone is not applying pressure and is giving the war more time to take lives that is complicity and accountability. We must act decisively," he wrote on X.
The Ukrainian military said it had launched a pre-emptive strike overnight on the Engels and Dyagilevo airfields in the Russian regions of Saratov and Ryazan, in addition to striking at least three fuel reservoirs.
In one of the most audacious attacks of the three-year-old war between Ukraine and Russia, Ukrainian spies last weekend destroyed some of Russia's strategic bomber aircraft on the ground using quadrocopter drones hidden in wooden sheds.
After a phone conversation with Putin on Wednesday, Trump said the Kremlin was planning an unspecified response to the Ukrainian attack on the Russian air bases.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
3 hours ago
- RNZ News
Russian attack on Ukraine's Kharkiv kills three, wounds 22
Rescuers carry a wounded person out of the ruins of a civilian plant following Russian attacks on the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv early on 7 June 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Photo: Sergey Bobok / AFP Russia attacked the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv at night with drones, missiles and guided bombs, killing at least three people and injuring 22, including a one-and-a-half-month-old baby, according to the city mayor, Ihor Terekhov. One of Ukraine's largest cities, Kharkiv, is located just a few dozen kilometres from the Russian border and has been under constant Russian shelling during more than three years of war. "Kharkiv is currently experiencing the most powerful attack since the start of the full-scale war," Terekhov said on the Telegram messenger early on Saturday (local time). Dozens of explosions were heard in the city through the night, and Russian troops were striking simultaneously with missiles, drones and guided aerial bombs, he said. Multi-storey and private residential buildings, educational and infrastructure facilities were attacked, Terekhov noted. Photos by local authorities and Reuters showed burnt and partially destroyed houses and vehicles, and rescuers carrying those injured to safety and removing debris. Kharkiv governor Oleh Syniehubov said that one of the city's civilian industrial facilities was attacked by 40 drones, one missile and four bombs, causing a fire, adding there may still be people under the rubble. The Ukrainian military said Russia launched 206 drones, two ballistic and seven other missiles against Ukraine overnight. It said its air defence units shot down 87 drones while another 80 drones were lost - in reference to the Ukrainian military using electronic warfare to redirect them, or they were drone simulators that did not carry warheads. Ten locations were hit, the military said. - Reuters
RNZ News
5 hours ago
- RNZ News
Riot police, anti-ICE protesters square off in Los Angeles after raids
By Jane Ross and Steve Gorman , Reuters Helmeted police in riot gear turned out in a tense confrontation with protesters in downtown Los Angeles, after a day of federal immigration raids in which dozens of people across the city were reported to be taken into custody. Live Reuters video showed Los Angeles Police Department officers on Friday evening (local time) lined up on a downtown street wielding batons and what appeared to be tear gas rifles, facing off with demonstrators after authorities had ordered crowds of protesters to disperse around nightfall. Early in the standoff, some protesters hurled chunks of broken concrete toward officers, and police responded by firing volleys of tear gas and pepper spray. Police also fired "flash-bang" concussion rounds. It was not clear whether there were any immediate arrests. An LAPD spokesperson, Drake Madison, told Reuters that police on the scene had declared an unlawful assembly, meaning that those who failed to leave the area were subject to arrest. Television news footage earlier in the day showed caravans of unmarked military-style vehicles and vans loaded with uniformed federal agents streaming through Los Angeles streets as part of the immigration enforcement operation. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents targeted several locations, including a Home Depot in the city's Wetlake District, an apparel store in the Fashion District and a clothing warehouse in South Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles City News Service (CNS). CNS and other local media reported dozens of people were taken into custody during the raids, the latest in a series of such sweeps conducted in a number of cities as part of President Donald Trump's extensive crackdown on illegal immigration. Television news footage earlier in the day showed caravans of unmarked military-style vehicles and vans loaded with uniformed federal agents streaming through Los Angeles streets as part of the immigration enforcement operation. Photo: KENA BETANCUR / AFP The Republican president has vowed to arrest and deport undocumented migrants in record numbers. The LAPD did not take part in the immigration enforcement action. It was deployed to quell civil unrest after crowds protesting the deportation raids spray-painted anti-ICE slogans on the walls of a federal court building and massed outside a nearby jail where some of the detainees were believed to be held. Impromptu demonstrations had also erupted at some of the raid locations earlier in the day. One organised labour executive, David Huerta, president of the Service Employees International Union of California, was injured and detained by ICE at one site, according to an SEIU statement. The union said Huerta was arrested "while exercising his First Amendment right to observe and document law enforcement activity." No details about the nature or severity of Huerta's injury were given. It was not clear whether he was charged with a crime. ICE did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for information about its enforcement actions or Huerta's detention. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued a statement condemning the immigration raids, saying, "These tactics sow terror in our communities and disrupt basic principles of safety in our city." - Reuters
RNZ News
13 hours ago
- RNZ News
Four killed, 80 wounded in intense Russian air attacks on Ukraine
By Thomas Peter, Anna Voitenko and Anastasiia Malenko, Reuters People stand outside an apartment block in the Solomianskyi district damaged by an overnight Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, on June 6, 2025. Photo: AFP / NurPhoto/ Kirill Chubotin Russia launched an intense missile and drone barrage at the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in the early hours of Friday, killing four people, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, as powerful explosions reverberated across the country. The attacks followed a warning from Russian President Vladimir Putin, conveyed via US President Donald Trump , that the Kremlin would hit back after Ukrainian drones destroyed several strategic bomber aircraft in attacks deep inside Russia. Zelensky said three emergency responders were killed in the missile and drone salvo against the capital. Another person died in an attack on the northwestern city of Lutsk. "Those killed in Kyiv were rescue workers who arrived at the scene of an initial strike and, unfortunately, were killed in a repeat Russian strike," Zelensky said in his nightly video address. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, writing on X, said Russia had "'responded' to its destroyed aircraft... by attacking civilians in Ukraine.... Multi-storey buildings hit. Energy infrastructure damaged." Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces had carried out the strike on military and military-related targets in response to what it called Ukrainian "terrorist acts" against Russia. Zelensky said 80 people nationwide had been injured in the attacks, which also struck several other towns and cities. He said residents could still be trapped under rubble. In Lutsk, the national emergency service said 30 people were injured in addition to the one death. Prosecutors said the attack damaged private homes, educational institutions and a government building. Russian forces also struck industrial facilities and infrastructure in the western city of Ternopil, leaving parts of it without power, mayor Serhii Nadal said. The regional administration said the attack had injured 10 people and asked residents to temporarily stay inside due to a high concentration of toxic substances in the air after a fire. The air force said Russia had used 407 drones, one of the largest numbers recorded in a single attack. Forty-five cruise and ballistic missiles were also fired, it said. Kyiv's metro transport system was disrupted by a Russian strike that hit and damaged tracks between stations, the military administration said. The state rail company said it was also diverting some trains due to rail damage outside the city. Reuters witnesses reported a series of booming explosions powerful enough to rattle windows far from the impact sites. Some Kyiv residents sought shelter in metro stations, or in underground car parks. In the capital's Solomianskyi district, a Russian drone slammed into the side of an apartment building, leaving a gaping hole and burn marks, a Reuters photographer at the scene said. Falling concrete blocks from the building crushed cars parked below. Two police investigators were examining what appeared to be the drone's engine. Earlier in the night, Reuters reporters heard the sound of Russian kamikaze drones buzzing in the sky, accompanied by the sounds of outgoing fire from Ukrainian anti-aircraft batteries. Zelensky called for concerted pressure on Russia. "If someone is not applying pressure and is giving the war more time to take lives that is complicity and accountability. We must act decisively," he wrote on X. The Ukrainian military said it had launched a pre-emptive strike overnight on the Engels and Dyagilevo airfields in the Russian regions of Saratov and Ryazan, in addition to striking at least three fuel reservoirs. In one of the most audacious attacks of the three-year-old war between Ukraine and Russia, Ukrainian spies last weekend destroyed some of Russia's strategic bomber aircraft on the ground using quadrocopter drones hidden in wooden sheds. After a phone conversation with Putin on Wednesday, Trump said the Kremlin was planning an unspecified response to the Ukrainian attack on the Russian air bases.
