Firefighters battle flames following a Russian airstrike on the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil on June 6, 2025. Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine
In the early hours of June 6, Russia launched 407 drones and 45 missiles at Ukraine, according to reports by the Ukrainian Air Force and its spokesman Yurii Ihnat. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the massive barrage injured 49 people and killed three emergency responders.
The Air Force reported that 199 of the 407 drones were shot down, while another 169 were either jammed or “radar lost.” As a result, only around 10% of the drones reached their targets.
Of the 45 missiles fired, 36 were Kh-101 cruise missiles launched by strategic bombers from an airfield in Russia’s Saratov Region, according to a detailed report by the Ukrainian publication Defense Express. Ukrainian forces were able to intercept 30 of them. Ukrainian drones also struck a fuel depot that supplies the military airfield in the town of Engels.
According to Zelensky, the strikes hit nearly every part of the country, targeting the Volyn, Lviv, Ternopil, Kyiv, Sumy, Poltava, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy, and Chernihiv regions. Kyiv recorded the highest number of casualties — 23 people had been injured there as of 11 a.m.
Ukraine’s State Emergency Service confirmed the deaths of three emergency responders in Kyiv: Pavlo Yezhor, Danylo Skadyn, and Andriy Remennyi.
“The Russians took the lives of those who were the first to respond to the aftermath of a horrific strike. People who went on a routine shift, as always — fully prepared. Before heading out, they kissed and hugged their wives and children…and never returned,” the service said in a statement.
In the western Ukrainian city of Lutsk, rescuers recovered the body of a deceased person from under the rubble of a 9-story building, bringing the total death toll from the attack to four people.
The attack lasted from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m., according to reports, with six missiles and fifteen Iranian-designed Shahed drones launched at residential areas and the city center.
“Among the targets hit during the attack, which lasted from 1:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m., was the Motor Hotel, where part of the Ukrainian team — including members of the national squad — had been accommodated. Fortunately, there are no casualties or injuries among the athletes,” read a statement by the Ukrainian Athletics Federation.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense claimed responsibility for the large-scale strike, calling it a “response to terrorist acts by the Kyiv regime” — a likely reference to Ukraine's surprise attacks on Russian airfields on June 1.
“The Russian Armed Forces launched a massive strike using high-precision long-range weapons from air, sea, and land platforms, as well as attack drones. The targets included design bureaus, arms production and repair facilities, drone assembly plants, pilot training centers, and weapons and equipment depots of the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” the statement read.
As of now, there is no independent confirmation that any of the sites Russia claimed to be targeting were actually hit.
Ukrainian defense sources told Defense Express that Russia was only able to launch seven strategic bombers for yesterday’s strike — five Tu-95MS and two Tu-160s — according to a report by the outlet.
The aircraft were notably loaded to near full capacity, averaging five missiles each — a sharp contrast to previous strikes, in which bombers typically carried just one to three missiles. It was the first heavy payload deployment since August 2024, when 11 Tu-95MS aircraft launched 77 Kh-101 cruise missiles in what was then Russia’s largest combined strike.
The attack may have been an attempt at retribution for Operation Spiderweb — a daring operation by Ukraine that severely damaged dozens of Russian strategic bombers stationed at airfields across the country, from the Murmansk Region in the north to Irkutsk in Siberia. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has claimed that 41 strategic aircraft were damaged or destroyed in the operation. Satellite imagery and video footage reviewed by open source intelligence (OSINT) analysts has so far shown that the likely amount of affected aircraft is much lower, with estimates ranging from 12 to 23 planes.