On Monday morning, July 6, Russian forces launched a large-scale missile and air attack targeting the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and other provinces, killing at least 10 people and injuring dozens.

The head of Kyiv's military administration, Timur Tkachenko, confirmed that 9 people were killed and 46 others were wounded as a result of the strikes, while the head of the regional military administration, Mykola Kalachnik, reported that at least one person was killed in the Bucha region on the outskirts of the capital.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a 9-storey apartment building in the historic Bodel district had been directly hit, trapping civilians in the rubble, while emergency services confirmed that at least 15 residential buildings and commercial warehouses had been damaged by the attack and falling debris from drones.

Moscow announces targeting of energy facilities and military airports

The Russian Ministry of Defense announced in a statement that it carried out an intensive strike using long-range precision weapons against facilities belonging to the military-industrial complex, and the facilities of the energy and oil sectors in the city of Kyiv and its surroundings. The strikes also affected the infrastructure of military airports in the districts of Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, Cherkasy, and Chernihiv, the ministry added, stressing that the attack comes in response to recent Ukrainian attacks with long-range drones that targeted energy infrastructure inside Russian territory.

Ukrainian response in Crimea, field dispute over Kostiantynivka

Local authorities in Crimea have reported that the energy infrastructure has been attacked by Ukrainian drones.

The Moscow-appointed governor of the city of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, revealed that the attack led to a temporary power outage in the city.

On the ground in Donetsk, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that the Ukrainian side refused to stop shelling the strategic town of Kostiantynivka to allow the exchange of the bodies of military personnel, and the Russian military leadership had informed President Vladimir Putin of the control of the town last Friday, which Kyiv denied, confirming that its forces continued to control it.

Political Moves

These accelerated developments on the ground come amid warnings issued by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky based on intelligence that Moscow is ready to launch a broader offensive, which intersects with a sensitive political timing ahead of the NATO summit.

This violent military escalation is linked to a series of political positions and arrangements taking place this week:

Friday, July 3: Russian military commanders inform President Putin of the control of the town of Kostiantynivka in Donetsk, amid field exile from Kyiv.

Sunday, July 5: Ukraine's president warns of intensified Russian strikes aimed at preempting the NATO summit, and calls on allies not to delay in supplying his country with Patriot air defense systems.