Russian attacks kill 4 across Ukraine, striking Kyiv for second straight day

Russian drones and missiles killed four people across Ukraine on Wednesday in attacks before dawn and at midday, as Moscow continued its pressure on Kyiv in the latest phase of the more than four-year-old war.

Ukraine, meanwhile, struck oil refineries in Russia’s Saratov and Tatarstan regions, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who met US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Turkey. Trump said Washington would grant Ukraine a licence to manufacture Patriot air defence systems to help counter Russian missile attacks.

Russian strikes hit Kyiv twice

In Kyiv, explosions were heard shortly after midnight, before authorities had issued an air raid alert to allow residents time to seek shelter.

The overnight Russian attacks killed one woman and injured two others in the capital, according to Kyiv city administration head Tymur Tkachenko. Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said the strikes damaged several administrative buildings and warehouses, along with a garage complex and tram facilities.

Hours later, another Russian drone struck Kyiv’s Desnianskyi district, killing one person and injuring six others, Tkachenko said. A total of eight people were wounded in the attacks on the capital.

In Kharkiv, two people were killed and 20 others injured in a series of overnight strikes, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said. In Zaporizhzhia, a Russian guided bomb injured two people on Tuesday night, according to regional governor Ivan Fedorov.

Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 169 long-range attack drones and seven missiles, including five ballistic missiles. Air defences shot down or jammed 139 drones, while two anti-radar missiles failed to reach their targets.

However, all five ballistic missiles and 20 drones hit targets at 15 locations, the air force said, highlighting the continued pressure on Ukraine’s air defence systems.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces struck defence industry facilities in Kyiv, including a plant producing components for Flamingo cruise missiles and a facility assembling medium- and long-range drones.

Trump pledges Patriot production support

In Ankara, Trump said the US would give Ukraine a licence to manufacture Patriot air defence systems to protect against Russian missile strikes that have increasingly targeted Kyiv in recent weeks.

The move would be a major boost for Ukraine, which has repeatedly sought more Patriot systems that are costly, in high demand and take significant time to produce. Zelenskyy has also long requested permission to manufacture the systems domestically.

“We’ll give them the right to make Patriots. We’ll show them how to do it,” Trump said alongside Zelenskyy. “I think they can produce them pretty quickly.”

The meeting marked a sharp contrast with their tense encounter at the White House in February 2025, when Trump publicly criticised Zelenskyy. On Wednesday, Trump praised the Ukrainian leader’s efforts to secure a peace agreement, saying he had “done an amazing job” and had been “very effective”.

“We’ve actually developed a good relationship. It’s hard to believe,” Trump said, adding that he believed a deal to end the war was possible and that Washington would “work on some kind of security package” for Ukraine.

Zelenskyy thanked Trump for his support and said he wanted to discuss weapons supplies, possible peace talks and a developing drone cooperation agreement.

“Air defence is the priority,” Zelenskyy said, adding that Kyiv wanted to share details of its requirements under the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL), through which European allies and Canada purchase US weapons for Ukraine.

He also said Ukrainian and US officials had begun work on a drone agreement, describing it as “a very good beginning”.

Trump was expected to hold another call with Russian President Vladimir Putin after his meeting with Zelenskyy.

Ukraine strikes Russian energy facilities

Russia’s Defence Ministry said its air defences shot down 415 Ukrainian drones from late Tuesday to early Wednesday.

Governor Roman Busargin of Russia’s Saratov region said a Ukrainian drone attack killed one person, injured several others and damaged industrial facilities.

Zelenskyy said Ukrainian long-range strikes hit the Saratov, Tatarstan and Bashkortostan regions deep inside Russia, as well as Voronezh near the Ukrainian border. The strikes targeted refineries in Saratov and Tatarstan, adding to attacks on Russian energy facilities that have contributed to fuel shortages.

In Tatarstan, Nizhnekamsk Mayor Radmir Belyayev said Ukrainian drones damaged industrial facilities in the city and injured several people, though he did not identify the sites affected.

Sergei Aksyonov, the Moscow-installed head of Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014, said restrictions on civilian fuel sales would remain in place and that petrol would not be available “on certain days”.

Aksyonov said some measures being taken to address the crisis could not be disclosed publicly, adding that he was providing regular updates to Putin.

“The fuel supply situation remains strained and will continue to be so for some time,” he said.

Following a meeting with Putin, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak announced that Russia would suspend all diesel exports until the end of July as the country deals with fuel shortages. Existing export bans are already in place for petrol and jet fuel.

Putin said Ukrainian attacks on energy infrastructure were aimed at creating public anxiety and damaging Russia’s economy, goals he described as “unachievable”.

Russia’s state-controlled gas company Gazprom said Ukrainian drones attacked the Krasnodarskaya compressor station serving the Blue Stream natural gas pipeline to Turkey late Tuesday. It said the attack was intended to disrupt Russian gas supplies to Turkey, but shipments continued without interruption.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the attack as another “dangerous” strike against “critical international energy infrastructure” and said Moscow hoped Turkey and other countries would discourage Kyiv from such actions.

Rostov regional governor Yuri Slyusar said Ukrainian drones damaged two oil tankers in Taganrog Bay, injuring two crew members. The crew of one vessel was evacuated.

He said there was no oil spill because the tankers, which were heading to the port of Rostov-on-Don, were empty.