As dawn broke over Kyiv on June 17, the city awoke to the aftermath of Russia’s grueling overnight missile and drone strike that killed at least 15 people and injured over 100. This is what the city lived through, told in photos from the ground.
Russia’s attack, which lasted nearly nine hours, involved over 440 air weapons, including ballistic missiles, Shahed drones, and cruise missiles targeting residential areas across multiple districts. The drones approached Kyiv from multiple directions, including along the Dnipro River, effectively surrounding the capital.
In the Solomianskyi district, a direct missile hit reduced part of a nine-story residential building to rubble. As the dust settled, residents gathered near the site, clinging to each other in silence, waiting for news of loved ones feared trapped beneath the debris.
Firefighters attend the aftermath of Russia’s air strike on a residential building in Kyiv, Ukraine, on June 17, 2025. Photographer: Andrew Kravchenko/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The images capture the raw moments of grief, hope, and resilience. Emergency workers and search dogs comb the ruins with painstaking care. “Minutes of silence” are observed throughout the day, allowing rescuers to listen for any signs of life beneath the collapsed structure. Overhead, helicopters dump tons of water to extinguish fires still smoldering from the impact.
This is Kyiv in the wake of the strike, scarred, but pressing on.
Ukrainian rescue workers evacuate an injured man from a residential apartment block hit by a Russian air strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, on June 17, 2025. Photographer: Andrew Kravchenko/Bloomberg via Getty Images
People take shelter in underpass at residential district during repeated attack of Russian drones and missiles on June 17, 2025 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Photo by Ivan Antypenko via Getty Images)
Firefighters take shelter in underpass at residential district during repeated attack of Russian drones and missiles on June 17, 2025 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Photo by Ivan Antypenko via Getty Images)
Smoke rises over city landscape after Russia’s attack with drones and missiles on June 17, 2025 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo: Vira Oliinyk
Rescue workers operate at the site of a Russian ballistic missile strike on a nine story residential building in Solomianskyi district, where an entire building's section from the 1st to the 9th floor was destroyed on June 17, 2025 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Rescuers continue to search for people under the rubble. (Photo by Oleksandr Gusev via Getty Images)
Rescue teams start working in the area following Russian forces launched a combined attack involving cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and strike UAVs overnight in Kyiv, Ukraine, on June 17, 2025. (Photo: MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS OF UKRAINE/ KYIV CITY MILITARY ADMINISTRATION AND IVAN ANTYPENKO/ SUSPILNE/ HANDOUT via Getty Images)
Rescuers conduct search and rescue operation at partially collapsed residential building after Russian drone-and-missile attack on June 17, 2025 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Rescuers continue to search for people under the rubble. (Photo by Vitalii Nosach via Getty Images)
Rescue services search for victims under wreckage after an air strike on a residential building in Kyiv, Ukraine, on June 17, 2025. Russian air assaults on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure have intensified in recent weeks this is the most deadly since at least April. Photographer: Andrew Kravchenko via Getty Images
Ukrainian civilians are seen as emergency teams start working in the area following Russian forces launched a combined attack involving cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and strike UAVs overnight in Kyiv. (Photo by Kyiv Mil. Adm. / Ivan Antypenko / Handout /Anadolu via Getty Images)
A man holds dog in front of partially collapsed residential building after Russian drone-and-missile attack on June 17, 2025 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Rescuers continue to search for people under the rubble. (Photo by Yan Dobronosov via Getty Images)
Kitten rescued by emergency workers is seen at the site of a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine on June 17, 2025. (Photo by Danylo Antoniuk via Getty Images)
People take shelter in an underpass at residential district during repeated attack of Russian drone-and-missile on June 17, 2025 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Photo by Yevhenii Zavhorodnii via Getty Images)
Rescuers deinstall hanging construction of partially collapsed residential building after a Russian drone-and-missile attack on June 17, 2025 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Rescuers continue to search for people under the rubble. (Photo by Yevhenii Zavhorodnii via Getty Images)
Missile fragments lie at the site of a Russian missile strike on Darnytskyi district on June 17, 2025 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Rescuers continue to search for people under the rubble. (Photo by Andriy Zhyhaylo via Getty Images)
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