Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on July 2 that Chief of the
General Staff Valery Gerasimov briefed President Putin on the results of
large-scale retaliatory strikes on Kyiv and other locations; Peskov said the
strikes targeted military or quasi-military facilities. The Ukrainian air force
said it recorded 74 missiles and 496 drones launched by Russia between 18:00 on
July 1 and the early hours of July 2, including four Zircon hypersonic cruise
missiles, and reported 17 dead and more than 90 wounded. The Russian defense
ministry said the strikes, launched in response to alleged Ukrainian attacks on
Russian civilian infrastructure, hit military‑industrial and energy facilities
in Kyiv city and region and military airfields elsewhere; it said Russia’s air
defenses intercepted and destroyed 327 Ukrainian drones between 20:00 on July 1
and 07:00 on July 2, Moscow time.
