Volodymyr Zelensky demands NATO Patriots as 23 missiles overwhelm Kyiv

ByJohn Rioba

First Published: July 6, 2026, 11:54 PM ET

KYIV, UKRAINE — Ballistic missiles hit residential buildings in Kyiv at 2 a.m. on Monday, resulting in the deaths of 11 individuals, while rescue teams worked to clear the debris.

The explosions occurred in the Podilskyi and Darnytskyi districts around 2 a.m. on Monday. A residential building in Podilskyi suffered a partial collapse between the seventh and ninth floors. At the same time, debris in Darnytskyi triggered a fire in an apartment block, prompting emergency response teams to mobilize across the city.

Timur Tkachenko The head of the Kyiv City Military Administration highlighted the grave situation in the Darnytskyi and Podilskyi districts, where Russian forces directly targeted residential high-rise buildings.

This assault followed a prior attack on the capital that claimed 31 lives. The president had issued a warning of an impending large-scale assault just hours before the missiles hit.

Zelensky confirmed extensive damage across more than 10 locations in the city overnight, emphasizing the need for urgent rescue efforts. He reported that 64 individuals, including 2 children, had been rescued from the rubble, with around 60 others sustaining injuries.

Throughout the night, rescue teams led by Kyiv Mayor vitali Klitschko tirelessly worked to extract individuals potentially trapped in the collapsed buildings. Efforts resulted in the safe evacuation of 15 individuals from the damaged Podilskyi building, with ongoing searches for any remaining victims.

A rescuer extinguishes burning cars parked outside a multistorey residential building damaged following a Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on July 6, 2026 in Ukraine. Photo: Genya Savilov/AFP via Getty Images

Despite intercepting cruise missiles and drones, Ukrainian air defenses were unable to avert the ballistic missile strikes due to a critical shortage of interceptor missiles for the Raytheon Patriot systems, as stated by Air Force spokesperson Yuri Ihnat.

As Zelensky prepares to address NATO allies at a summit in Ankara seeking additional air defense support, he stressed the urgency of securing a sufficient supply of interceptor missiles to safeguard against future attacks. “It is critically important that the world-first and foremost the United States and our European partnersÔÇöemerge from the NATO summit in Ankara with strong decisions in support of our air defence,” Zelensky said. “As long as missiles for the Patriots remain in allies’ warehouses, this only encourages Russia to continue targeting residential buildings.”

Across the broader Kyiv region, 3 more people died, and 16 were injured, according to regional authorities. Many residential buildings in the capital sustained significant damage.

“Any delay with missiles for our air defence means the loss of lives, and it encourages Russia to continue the war,” Zelensky wrote on social media.

There were also reports of extensive damage to several houses and more fatalities in the larger Kyiv area as a result of the attack. Rescuers continued to comb through the rubble, possibly discovering additional victims as the disaster unfolded, and helicopters were dispatched to extinguish the fires.