Russia unleashes over 440 drones, 32 missiles on Ukraine, killing 15 including U.S. citizen

In what Ukrainian officials describe as one of the most intense assaults in recent months, Russia launched over 440 drones and 32 missiles across Ukraine on Tuesday, June 17, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens more.

Among the casualties was an American citizen, adding a global dimension to the tragedy. The capital, Kyiv, bore the brunt of the assault, with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy describing the attack as a “cowardly strike on civilians.”

Zelenskiy revealed that dozens of non-military sites were targeted in the early-morning wave of attacks, including residential apartments, schools, and critical infrastructure. One of the hardest-hit areas was Kyiv’s Solomianskyi district, where a ballistic missile reduced an entire section of a nine-storey building to rubble.

Emergency responders rushed to the scene, pulling survivors from the debris and attending to the wounded. The scale of the damage has been described as some of the worst Kyiv has seen since the full-scale invasion began in 2022.

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“This is pure terrorism,” Zelenskiy said. “The whole world — the United States and Europe — must finally respond as a civilized society would respond to terrorists. Putin continues this war simply because he believes he can.”

Emergency services worked through the rubble, using hoses to douse fires and cranes to rescue residents from damaged buildings. One elderly woman was lowered in a stretcher from a broken window, as residents looked on in horror.

“I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s horrific,” said Viktoriia Vovchenko, 57, a resident of the area. “They were pulling out people, cut up, injured… elderly people, children. I don’t know how much more of this we can take.”

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko confirmed 14 deaths in Kyiv and one in Odesa. Nearly 100 people were injured across Kyiv, Odesa, and Chernihiv. Among the dead in the capital was a 62-year-old American citizen, who succumbed to shrapnel wounds, said Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.

While Ukraine has carried out drone strikes into Russian territory in response, none have inflicted the same level of civilian casualties. Russia’s Ministry of Defense claimed it intercepted 147 Ukrainian drones overnight, including in the Moscow region.

Now in its fourth year, Russia’s full-scale invasion has intensified in recent weeks. Peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow held in Istanbul yielded no agreement, while Russian forces have stepped up their assault in eastern Ukraine and opened a new front in the northeastern Sumy region.

Calls for a ceasefire from U.S. President Donald Trump have so far gone unheeded. Trump, who left the G7 summit in Canada a day early due to escalating tensions in the Middle East, has shifted U.S. foreign policy away from strong support for Kyiv. His administration has resisted European pressure to impose tougher sanctions on Moscow, and Trump has suggested re-admitting Russia into the G7 — a group it was expelled from in 2014 after its annexation of Crimea.

Zelenskiy, attending the G7 summit in Canada, had hoped to secure increased military aid and tighter sanctions against Russia. He also sought a meeting with President Trump to discuss arms deals, but that encounter did not take place due to Trump’s early departure.

The latest escalation underscores the failure of diplomatic efforts and the growing toll of the war on civilians, as Russia continues to pursue its objectives despite international condemnation.