Overview
- Ukrainian officials say Russia launched 656 attack drones and 73 missiles overnight between June 1 and June 2, while Ukraine reported intercepting roughly 642 of 729 incoming threats.
- The raids killed dozens of civilians and wounded more than a hundred people, with major damage and building collapses reported in Kyiv, Dnipro and other cities as rescue teams searched for survivors.
- Kyiv renewed urgent requests for Western air-defence support, specifically asking the United States for interceptor missiles for Patriot systems to plug shortfalls revealed by the mass attack.
- In a reciprocal move, Ukraine carried out long‑range drone strikes inside Russia that Russian and Ukrainian sources say hit a St. Petersburg oil terminal and a plant in Tambov, while Russia reported a Ukrainian drone strike on a bus in territory it controls.
- Analysts and officials warn the exchanges mark a new phase of escalation in the five‑year war, highlighting the rising role of long‑range drones and mixed missile types and raising regional security and civilian‑protection concerns.