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UKRAINE HAS SAID that Russia launched 550 drones and missiles at the country overnight, as the Kremlin steps up aerial attacks and US-led peace talks stall.
The Ukrainian air force said Moscow had launched 539 drones and 11 missiles, adding that air defence units had downed 268 drones and two missiles.
A representative of the air force Yuriy Ignat said the barrage was a record, adding “this is the largest number that the enemy has used in a single attack.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that as of know, 23 people are known to have been wounded in the large-scale attack.
It comes after US President Donald Trump said he made no progress with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin towards a ceasefire after they spoke by phone yesterday.
In a statement on X, Zelenskyy said the overnight bombardment shows that Moscow is not interested in peace.
“Notably, the first air raid alerts in our cities and regions yesterday began to blare almost simultaneously with media reports discussing a phone call between President Trump and Putin,” he said.
“Yet again, Russia is showing it has no intention of ending the war and terror.”
Firefighting efforts and debris removal are still ongoing after another Russian strike. This was one of the most large-scale air attacks – deliberately massive and cynical. In total, 550 targets were launched, including at least 330 Russian-Iranian “shaheds”, along with missiles,… pic.twitter.com/vnn31oST0z
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) July 4, 2025
Kyiv was the main target of the attack, but Dnipro, Sumy and Kharkiv and Chernihiv were also targeted.
He said that interceptor drones took dozens of drones down, adding that Ukraine is doing “everything possible to develop this element of defence for our cities” and urging their allies to “continue to support us in defending against ballistic missiles”.
The Ukrainian president concluded that without large-scale pressure, Russia will continue its war.
“For every such strike against people and human life, they must feel appropriate sanctions and other blows to their economy, their revenues, and their infrastructure
“This is the only thing that can be achieved quickly to change the situation for the better. And it depends on our partners, primarily the United States.”
On Wednesday, the US said that it was halting some key weapons shipments promised to Ukraine by the previous White House administration without elaborating further on what that would entail.
Any slowdown in US support could harm Ukraine’s ability to fend off escalating Russian aerial bombardments or frontline gains.
Meanwhile, Russia said a woman was killed when a Ukrainian drone crashed into an apartment building in the south of the country.
A two-storey building in the village of Dolotinka in Rostov was “damaged by a UAV crash, a floor slab collapsed, and as a result, a retired woman, a former teacher, died”, Yury Slyusar said on Telegram.
“At the moment, the threat of a UAV attack remains in the Rostov region. All forces and means are on alert and continue to repel the enemy attack,” Slyusar said.
He added that 20 residents were evacuated from the building.
A man was also wounded by shrapnel in a Ukrainian drone attack on a district in the Moscow region, according to Russia’s TASS news agency.
With reporting from © AFP 2025
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