Russia unleashed a massive missile and drone attack on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities overnight, killing at least 16 people and wounding more than 150 in the capital in one of the deadliest assaults since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Ukrainian officials declared a day of mourning on June 18 for victims of what President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described as one of the most horrific attacks on the capital during the war. Authorities said in addition to the 16 killed in Kyiv, two were killed in Odesa.
"Such attacks are pure terrorism. The whole world, the United States, and Europe must finally respond as a civilized society responds to terrorists," Zelenskyy said. "[Russian President Vladimir] Putin does this solely because he can afford to continue the war."
The attacks came as Zelenskyy was preparing to meet on June 17 with US President Donald Trump and other leaders at a Group of Seven (G7) summit in Canada and call for tougher measures against Russia. But Trump left the summit before his meeting with Zelenskyy could take place, returning to Washington amid a deadly conflict between Israel and Iran.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and his counterparts from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan were joined during the final sessions of the summit by Zelenskyy and NATO chief Mark Rutte.
But the summit also failed to produce a strong agreement on the war in Ukraine after resistance from the United States, a Canadian official told reporters. Carney said, however, that before Trump left, the leaders stressed the importance of using "maximum pressure against Russia" to force it to start serious peace talks.
In Kyiv, an entire nine-story section of an apartment building was razed to the ground by a missile strike during the onslaught, which occurred as many residents were sleeping in their homes. Windows in adjacent buildings were blown out and hunks of debris littered the street.
“Our families had a very difficult night, one of the biggest attacks from the very beginning of this war,” Zelenskyy said at the G7 summit.
“We need support from allies and I’m here,” Zelenskyy said. He added, “We are ready for the peace negotiations, unconditional cease-fire. I think it’s very important. But for this, we need pressure.”
The British government announced after Zelenskyy's meeting with Prime Minister Keir Starmer that the two leaders agreed to convene the next coalition of the willing meeting in the coming weeks. Starmer, who has discussed the idea of the coalition sending peacekeeping forces to Ukraine after a cease-fire is reached, announced a new set of sanctions on Russia before agreeing to call the meeting.
In the overnight attack on Ukraine, Russia also fired drones and missiles at the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhya, a region that Russian forces are attempting to push into on the ground.
Zelenskyy said that, overall, Russia launched more than 440 drones and 32 missiles in the attack, which also targeted the Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, Kirovohrad, and Mykolayiv regions. The Ukrainian Air Force said it had shot down 402 of the drones and 26 of the missiles.
The State Emergency Service said rescuers worked late on June 17 at two sites in the capital where people were believed to have been trapped under the rubble.
"It's a disaster," a survivor in Kyiv said, his face and chest flecked with blood.
"There was a first strike.... It threw me into the hallway," he told Current Time. "I went to get my mother. She must have been in shock and tried to shut the window. Then there was a second strike. I don’t remember much. I came around and pulled my mother out of the room, thank God, because there was so much smoke and she could have suffocated.”
"Such attacks are pure terrorism," Zelenskyy said. "And the whole world, the United States, and Europe must finally respond as a civilized society responds to terrorists. Putin does this solely because he can afford to continue the war.... It is wrong when the powerful of this world turn a blind eye to it."
Shock In Ukraine As Russian Strikes Collapse Apartments, Hit Multiple Cities
Russia has kept up its attacks on Ukraine despite efforts by the United States to broker a peace deal. No visible progress has emerged from two rounds of negotiations in Istanbul in the past month beyond exchanges of prisoners and the remains of the war dead, and a third round has not been scheduled.
Moscow has rejected calls by Kyiv and the West for an unconditional cease-fire, while Ukraine has dismissed Russia's demands as "ultimatums."
The meeting with Trump would have been a chance for Zelenskyy to press the United States to impose new sanctions on Russia. Trump has not committed to hit Moscow with additional punishments and has said he could take action targeting both sides if they can't reach a deal.
Ukrainian political analyst Oleh Saakyan said he believes the Russian attack was timed to coincide with the G7 meeting.
"Unfortunately, this is all very predictable. Whenever there are negotiations or high-level meetings, like the G7 summit, Russia organizes massive terror against civilians," Saakyan told Current Time, the Russian-language TV and digital network run by RFE/RL.
Zelenskyy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, slammed the new Russian strikes on Ukraine, saying that Moscow is "continuing its war against civilians."
Russia claims it does not target civilians, despite ample evidence that it does, and many of the growing number of civilian casualties have been caused by Russian long-range missile and drone attacks.
The confirmed civilian death toll since the start of the full-scale invasion is over 13,000, according to the UN, but officials say the real number is likely higher.
The Russian military said it had downed 203 Ukrainian drones over 10 Russian regions on the night of June 16-17.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Russian air defenses had repelled two drones headed for the capital overnight. Russian air defense units also destroyed 51 drones over the border region of Belgorod during a 3-1/2 hour period late on June 16, the Defense Ministry said.
