Russia Launches Hundreds of Drones and Missiles, Ukraine: Putin is a War Criminal!

The Ukrainian government has stated that the latest wave of Russian air strikes against its territory demonstrates that President Vladimir Putin is running out of military options in his invasion, which has been ongoing for the past four years. “Putin is a war criminal and a loser who has no other cards to play besides terror,” said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga in a statement via social media, as reported by AFP on Tuesday (2/6/2026). “Moscow is losing on the battlefield. No amount of missiles can change this,” he asserted.

The Ukrainian Foreign Minister’s statement followed reports from the Kyiv Air Force that Russia deployed 656 drones and 73 missiles, including the difficult-to-intercept Zircon hypersonic missiles, in a massive attack against the country. Kyiv stated that 602 drones and 40 missiles were intercepted or neutralised by Ukrainian air defence forces. A spokesperson for the Ukrainian Air Force noted that the wave of Russian air strikes also involved eight Zircon hypersonic missiles—potentially the largest deployment of hypersonic missiles by Russia during the four-year conflict.

The Zircon hypersonic missile, claimed by Moscow, has a range of up to 1,000 kilometres and is capable of travelling at nine times the speed of sound. Reports from Ukrainian authorities indicated that at least 11 people were killed and more than 100 others were injured as a result of the barrage of Russian missile and drone attacks on several cities, including the capital, Kyiv, as of Tuesday (2/6) early morning. Four of the fatalities occurred in the Kyiv area, with Mayor Vitali Klitschko reporting that 65 others, including children, were injured. Seven other deaths were reported in the city of Dnipro, which was also a target of the Russian missile and drone strikes. The Governor of Dnipro, Oleksandr Hanzha, reported that 36 others were injured, all of whom are currently receiving hospital treatment for moderate injuries.