Russia launched its largest-ever barrage on Kyiv early Thursday (July 2, 2026), according to the city's mayor, tearing open apartment buildings in an hours-long drone and missile attack that killed at least 21 people.In Moscow, the Kremlin vowed to further ramp up the "pressure" on Kyiv after the strike, sticking to its no-compromise rhetoric as rescuers in Kyiv scoured the rubble for survivors.Ukraine’s increasingly frequent and large-scale attacks — described by Mr. Zelenskyy as a 40-day blitz — have especially targeted oil refineries, causing a fuel crisis that has frustrated Russians, more than four years after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour.Ukrainian officials say they are trying to force Putin to the negotiating table, but so far Moscow’s response has been to hit back.The European Union's top diplomat proposed new sanctions on Moscow, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked the United States for licences to manufacture Patriot air defence missiles.Russia Ukraine war updatesRussia has routinely launched waves of missiles and drones at Ukrainian cities during its more than four-year invasion, which has become Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II.AFP journalists in central and eastern Kyiv heard more than a dozen explosions and saw residents — some with children and pets — rushing to shelter in metro stations.In the morning, locals stood on the rubble of destroyed apartment blocks ripped apart by the barrage, as smoke poured over the Kyiv skyline.At one spot, a mother cried as she embraced her son in front of the smouldering debris.Blasts started echoing out late on Wednesday (July 1, 2026), lasting into the early hours of Thursday (July 2, 2026) as Russian missiles and drones rained down on residential areas in the city centre.Mayor Vitali Klitschko described it as the "enemy's most massive attack on the capital", without elaborating.The state emergency services said at least 21 people were killed and 85 were wounded, including two children.Kyiv urged its allies to send more air defence."Air defence supplies for Ukraine are an absolute and critical priority," Mr. Zelenskyy said in a post on Facebook."We also very much count on a decision by the United States regarding licences for Patriots."Ukraine is seeking to manufacture munitions for the U.S.-made missile interceptor system, one of its only ways of defending against Russian ballistic missiles, although defence experts say it will take time to set up production domestically.