Karina Bovsunovska11:13, 18.06.25

These shells were intended for Ukraine.

Russia launched a massive attack on Kyiv on the night of June 17 after the United States transferred 10,000 anti-drone missiles destined for Ukraine to the Middle East , a Ukrainian Security Service official told  The Washington Post .

According to him, the lack of “relatively cheap missiles” or small missiles used to intercept drones creates a dangerous situation for Ukraine at a time when Russia launches hundreds of drones during each attack. 

“They took all this ammunition. It was extremely important. We need to find a new solution against Shahed as soon as possible. Otherwise, this situation will be repeated every day,” the source noted.

At the same time, Mykola Beleskov, a researcher at the Ukrainian National Institute for Strategic Studies, emphasized that redirecting ammunition to the Middle East would deprive Ukraine of protection at a time when “Russian tactics and the scale of attacks are evolving to make attacks more deadly.”

Russian attack on Kyiv on June 17 – what is known

Recall, on June 17, Russia launched a massive attack on Kyiv . Initially, 14 people were reported dead, but later the number of people killed by the Russian Federation increased. As a result of the strike in the Solomyansky district, in particular, rubble was being cleared from a residential building, where an entire entrance collapsed. 

Damage was also recorded at 12 locations in Solomyansky, Svyatoshynsky, Darnytsky, Dnipro, Podolsky, and Obolonsky districts. In the Darnytsky district of the capital, after the Russian attack, a massive fire broke out, the fire was extinguished from a helicopter.

As of 11:00 a.m. on June 18, 24 people are known to have died in Kyiv as a result of the massive Russian shelling on June 17. Search and rescue operations are currently ongoing.

“We still don’t know how many bodies there may be under the rubble, so the work is ongoing. The search for bodies is ongoing because we haven’t reached the end, the foundation. Because due to the collapse of the structures, all the floors have collapsed, even down to the basement. Therefore, we have to get to the end to make sure that there is no one else under the rubble,” said Svitlana Vodolaga, a spokeswoman for the State Emergency Service.

(C)UNIAN 2025