Four killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine as Moscow continues to retaliate for Kyiv’s drone strike

At least four people were killed in eastern Ukraine and more than two dozen were injured, including a baby and a 14-year-old, after Russia launched drone-and-missile and bomb attacks Saturday, Ukraine officials said. 

Russia launched 215 missiles and drones on Kharkiv, the war-torn nation’s second-largest city, in the early hours of Saturday, killing three people and wounding more than 40 others, Ukrainian officials said. 

Later in the day, Russia dropped bombs on Kharkiv’s city center, killing at least one more person and injuring five. 

“What the Russians want is the complete destruction of life,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday after the attacks. 

Last Sunday, Ukraine launched a surprise drone attack on Russian territory that destroyed 40 Russian planes, according to Kyiv. 

In his evening address, Zelenskyy said 117 drones had been used in the operation. He claimed the operation was headquartered out of an office next to the local FSB, the Russian intelligence agency.

An elderly man is assisted after a Russian attack that hit a residential building in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Saturday, June 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)

On Friday, Russia launched another drone attack on six territories in Ukraine that killed six people, including a baby, and injured 80, according to Ukraine officials.

The attack came after President Donald Trump had a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin in which the Russian leader said he planned to retaliate. 

Trump responded to the attacks Friday, telling reporters on Air Force One, “Well, they gave Putin a reason to go in and bomb the hell out of them last night. … When I saw it, I said, ‘Here we go, now it’s going to be a strike.’”

On Thursday, Trump also compared the Russia-Ukraine war to children. 

Firefighters tackle a blaze after a Russian attack hit a residential building in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Saturday, June 7, 2025.  (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)

“Sometimes you see two young children fighting like crazy. They hate each other, and they’re fighting in a park, and you try and pull them apart, they don’t want to be pulled,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “Sometimes you’re better off letting them fight for a while and then pulling them apart.”

Ukraine and Russia have so far held two rounds of peace talks with few tangible results.