Ukraine capital reports Russia deploys largest-ever number of drones in war effort

Nearly 500 drones and 20 missiles of various types were launched by Russia at Ukraine overnight, marking the biggest barrage of the war, Kyiv said. 

Ukraine’s air force reported that 277 out of 479 drones and 19 missiles were destroyed by their air defenses on Monday. According to Kyiv, only 10 drones and missiles actually hit their intended target, resulting in one person being injured.

The bombardment targeted mainly central and western areas of Ukraine, they said.

Russia’s aerial attacks usually start late in the evening and end in the morning, as drones are harder to spot in the dark.

An apartment block in the Solomianskyi district is damaged by an overnight Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, on June 6, 2025.

The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, expressed skepticism towards the explanations provided, stating that it is challenging to consider them as credible. He mentioned that the Russian side remains prepared to follow through with the agreements made in Istanbul.

The recent developments stem from the direct peace talks that took place in Istanbul on June 2. These negotiations aim to facilitate a new exchange of prisoners of war involving at least 1,200 individuals, focusing on the youngest and most severely injured. Additionally, the talks also intend to address the repatriation of numerous bodies of those who lost their lives in the conflict.

A Ukrainian doctor treats a soldier injured by shrapnel from Russian explosive drones at a medical stabilisation centre of the 3rd Operational Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine, in an undisclosed location near Pokrovsk, eastern Ukraine, on June 7, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  (FLORENT VERGNES/AFP)

The return of prisoners of war and the return of the bodies of the dead is one of the few things the two sides have been able to agree on, even as their broader negotiations have failed to get close to ending the war, now in its fourth year.

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom, the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.