From June 2 to June 8, 2025, Russia carried out one of the largest waves of air attacks since the beginning of the full-scale war. Missiles, drones, and bombs hit Ukrainian cities almost every day. Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, Lutsk, Chernihiv, Pryluky, Rivne, and dozens of frontline communities were hit. The shelling killed civilians, including children and rescuers. Dozens of people were injured.
June 2
Russians use missiles, drones, and aircraft. The Kharkiv region was hit by UAVs and ballistic missiles, with reports of destruction and casualties. At least 5 people are killed in Donetsk and Kharkiv regions, including in Kramatorsk, Illinivka, and in villages near Kupyansk.
June 3
Russians fire missiles at Sumy: at least 4 people are killed and about 25 wounded, including in a medical facility and residential areas. In Balakliya, Kharkiv region, one person is killed at an enterprise and several people are injured; fires break out in Chernihiv, hospitalizing at least 4 people and evacuating 20, including 8 children.
June 4
Hundreds of households in Zaporizhzhia region are without electricity due to shelling; residential infrastructure is damaged.
June 5
A large-scale nighttime attack on Pryluky in Chernihiv region involves air strikes by Shahed UAVs; there are deaths and injuries. Russians attacked the region with FPV drones, as well as mortars and artillery.
June 6
Russia uses more than 400 UAVs and 40+ missiles - Ukrainian air defense destroyed about 406 air attack targets. Three rescuers were killed and 32 people were injured in Kyiv. Two people are killed in Lutsk as a result of a nighttime shelling; in Kyiv and Chernihiv, 7 people are killed and almost 80 wounded.
June 7
A massive attack on Kharkiv (rockets + drones): an infant is among the victims, and residential buildings are damaged. Fourteen settlements in Zaporizhzhia region are shelled, at least one person (a 63-year-old man) is wounded.
In the Chernihiv region, FPV drones, mortars and artillery attacked the border communities of Semenivka, Snovsk, Horodnya - explosions occurred in different locations.
June 8
On Sunday evening, the Russian army launched Shahed-type attack drones into Ukraine. The enemy also fired guided bombs and missiles. Largest attack on Rivne region - The region experienced one of its toughest nights yet, with dozens of Shaheds and missiles attacking the region.
June 5 - shelling of a high-rise building in Kharkiv
On the night of June 5, the Russian army once again attacked Kharkiv. During the massive attack, drones recorded at least six strikes, two of which were direct hits on apartment buildings. Nineteen people were injured, including four children.
“Night attack on Kharkiv. Six enemy strikes, two of them were direct hits to apartment buildings,” said Mayor Igor Terekhov. According to him, in one of the apartments, the fragments of the drone pierced the walls, and part of the Shahed's engine ended up in the corridor. At that moment, the owners were at home, but miraculously survived - they were sleeping in another room.
Terekhov emphasized that there were no military facilities nearby. This is a targeted terror of the civilian population.
The head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, Oleh Syniehubov, said that among the wounded were a seven-year-old boy and girls aged 9 and 13.
Rescuers recorded fires in three locations: an apartment on the top floor of a 17-story building, another on the second floor of a five-story building, and a basement. The fire also spread to three cars. In addition, the facades and windows of residential buildings, cars and the surrounding area were damaged.
The photo by Oleksandr Magula shows the aftermath of the shelling: destroyed apartments, burnt-out walls, drone debris in the corridors and yards where children were playing yesterday.
June 6 - the most massive air attack on Kyiv: dozens of wounded, rescuers killed, areas without electricity
On the night of June 6, Russia carried out one of the most intense air attacks in the entirety of the full-scale war. Almost all regions of Ukraine, including Kyiv, came under attack. According to the Air Force, the enemy used 452 means of air attack: kamikaze drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles. Ukrainian air defense destroyed 406 of them.
In Kyiv, three rescue workers were killed and 32 others were injured as a result of falling debris and shelling in six districts. In some buildings, debris broke through ceilings and caused fires. Some of the left-bank districts of the capital were left without electricity, which was restored only in the evening.
Due to the damage to the infrastructure, the red line of the metro was temporarily restricted: trains ran only between Akademmistechko and Arsenalna stations, and a temporary bus route was introduced between Dnipro and Lisova stations. Full traffic resumed around 19:00.
In his morning address, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that 80 people were injured and six were killed in the attacks in Ukraine. “These are employees of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. My sincere condolences to their families,” the president said. Later, another victim was pulled from the rubble in Lutsk.
In Kyiv, 18 wounded remain in hospitals, six of them in serious condition.
The photos of Anton Shtuka, Serhiy Nuzhnenko and Ivan Antypenko show the evidence of the shelling: destroyed apartments, burned cars, rescuers among the rubble and Kyiv, which has survived another night of war.
On the same day, Ukraine celebrated Journalist's Day, a professional holiday that was overshadowed by tragic events this year. As a result of the massive Russian attack, employees of the Kyiv State Emergency Service's press service were injured, including Pavlo Petrov, a photographer, press officer, and member of the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers. He was one of the first to arrive at the scene of the shelling along with rescuers. Three firefighters were killed in the aftermath of the second strike, and 18 other rescuers were injured.
June 7 - 50 explosions in Kharkiv at night
On the night of June 7, Kharkiv suffered one of the most powerful attacks during the full-scale invasion. Around 03:10 a.m., a combined attack began: Russian forces fired 48 Shahed-type kamikaze drones, four guided aerial bombs, and two missiles at the city. Within an hour and a half, at least 50 explosions were heard in the city.
Mayor Ihor Terekhov called the attack the most massive in the war. According to official reports, three people were killed and 21 others were injured. Among the injured were a 14-year-old girl and a one-and-a-half-month-old baby who suffered acute shock.
One of the strikes hit an apartment building in the Osnovyansky district. Fires broke out in several apartments (from the 6th to the 9th floor). The bodies of two women were found under the rubble. One of them was identified by a tattoo, the other is being identified using DNA. Nine residents of the building were injured.
In Kyiv district, two “Shakhtys” hit a private house and the territory of a higher education institution. One person was killed and another was wounded as a result of the hit on the house. Later it was reported that another person was killed in the area. Another drone hit a civilian enterprise, causing a large-scale fire.
As of 11:00 a.m. on June 8, the fire was localized and a search and rescue operation is underway, with six employees still trapped in the rubble.
In Kyiv and Osnovyansky districts, 56 buildings were damaged. Five of them had serious structural damage.
More than 300 police officers were involved in the response. Two police officers were among the injured. The center of Kharkiv was also hit, and at least six people were injured.
Ivan Samoilov's photographs capture the scale of the night's strike: burnt facades, smashed apartments, shattered roofs, smoke over urban areas - and people who greeted the dawn among the rubble of their homes.
This week has once again shown that Russia's target remains civilians, urban infrastructure, and those who are the first to come to the rescue - rescuers, doctors, utility workers, and media professionals. The photos of Ukrainian documentary filmmakers from Kharkiv and Kyiv remind us once again that the war is not only at the front. It is in every doorway, every window without a pane of glass, every look full of silent resistance.
Contributors:
Researcher of the topic, author of the text: Vira Labych
Editor-in-chief: Olga Kovaleva
Literary editor: Yulia Futey
Website manager: Vladyslav Kukhar
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