Russia announced that it had carried out "massive strikes" against sites in Ukraine's military-industrial complex last night, using "precision weapons", including hypersonic missiles, reported Agence France-Presse.
According to Ukrainian authorities, the large-scale Russian attack early Tuesday morning caused at least 11 deaths, four of them in the capital Kiev, and injured about 100, the Associated Press added.
Since February 2022, Moscow has been waging a large-scale offensive against Ukraine, shelling its cities, leading to retaliatory strikes from Kiev. In recent months, the Ukrainian army has stepped up its strikes, including deep into the territory of the Russian Federation.
Last night's attack, carried out "in response to the terrorist acts of the Kiev regime," was directed against targets in the Ukrainian capital, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
The drone and missile strikes were also directed against energy and transport infrastructure facilities associated with the Ukrainian army in other regions of Ukraine, the Russian ministry added.
The strikes in Kiev killed 4 people and wounded 63, including children, the head of the city's military administration, Timur Tkachenko, was quoted by Ukrinform as saying.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that overnight Russia carried out one of the largest combined attacks since the beginning of the war, launching a total of 656 drones and 73 missiles, including ballistic missiles, which are significantly more difficult to intercept by air defenses. According to the Ukrainian military, 602 drones and 40 missiles were destroyed.
The attack began at 6 p.m. on June 1 and included kamikaze drones, as well as missiles launched from the air, sea and land. The main target was Kiev. In total, radar systems detected 729 air threats.
Among the missiles used by Russia are:
8 anti-ship missiles "Zircon" (3M22) launched from occupied Crimea and Kursk Oblast;
33 Iskander-M ballistic missiles launched from Bryansk, Kursk, and Rostov Oblasts, as well as from Crimea;
27 Kh-101 cruise missiles launched from Vologda Oblast;
5 Caliber cruise missiles launched from the Caspian Sea.
Russia has also used 656 drones — Shahed, Gerbera, Italmas, Banderol, and Parodia decoy drones launched from various regions of Russia. The Ukrainian air defense used fighter jets, missile systems, electronic warfare, anti-drone units and mobile fire groups. According to preliminary data, as of 08:30 on June 2, 642 targets had been destroyed or neutralized, including:
11 ballistic missiles "Iskander-M";
26 cruise missiles Kh-101;
3 missiles "Caliber";
602 drones of various types.
According to preliminary data, 30 ballistic missiles, three cruise missiles and 33 attack drones hit 38 locations in the country. Debris from downed drones has been found in 15 locations.
According to Ukrainian energy company DTEK, 140,000 people in Kyiv were left without electricity after the attack. So far, maintenance workers have restored power to 110,000 of them.
Two of the company's engineers were injured, DTEK added.
The Ukrainian Air Force said the attack was still ongoing, with several Russian drones remaining in Ukrainian airspace, Ukrinform noted.