Deadly Kyiv Factory Strike
Russian Drone Attack on Kyiv Food Factory Kills Four, Injures Seven, Search Continues
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A Russian drone strike hit a food factory in Ukraine's Kyiv region on June 5, killing four people and wounding seven others, Reuters reported. Two more workers may still be trapped under the rubble as search and rescue teams continue digging through the debris.
The attack struck a facility in the Brovary district, sparking a fire in an administrative building and destroying parts of the structure. Mykola Kalashnyk, head of the Kyiv Oblast Military Administration, said the strike hit "a peaceful civilian food industry enterprise" where workers "were simply going about their work."
Dairy Plant Producing Baby Food Hit in Strike
The targeted facility was the Yagotynske dairy plant, a major producer of baby milk products, according to RBC-Ukraine. The drone hit just after 8:00 AM local time. By mid-morning, the death toll had risen from one to four as rescuers pulled bodies from the wreckage. Seven people were taken to hospital and two others remain unaccounted for beneath the collapsed sections of the building.
Ukraine's State Emergency Service confirmed the administrative building on the factory grounds was structurally destroyed. Ukrainska Pravda reported that firefighters were still battling the blaze hours after the initial strike. The attack is part of a broader overnight barrage in which Russia launched 216 Shahed-type drones across Ukraine. Ukrainian air defenses shot down 198 of them, according to Censor.NET.
Russia's Declared Policy of Hitting Kyiv Systematically
The Brovary strike fits a pattern Russia made official in late May 2026. On May 25, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced it would begin "consistent and systemic" strikes on Kyiv. The announcement followed a Ukrainian drone attack on a dormitory in Russian-held Luhansk. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has since signaled that strikes on Kyiv will continue as a "retaliatory" measure.
Russia has also escalated its weapons mix. On May 24, Moscow debuted the Oreshnik hypersonic missile system for the first time, Euronews reported. Analysts at the Hudson Institute describe Russia as maintaining a "high operational tempo," combining Shahed drones with ballistic missiles to overwhelm Ukraine's air defenses. Ukraine is running short on interceptor missiles, which experts say is giving Russia more room to get strikes through.
Wider Civilian Toll Climbs as UN Raises Alarm
The Brovary attack was not an isolated event. Across Ukraine on June 5, at least 11 civilians were killed and 68 injured in the past 24 hours, the Kyiv Independent reported. The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission says civilian casualties in early 2026 are running roughly 20% higher than the same period in 2025. The UN links the increase directly to Russia's growing use of long-range weapons.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy published an open letter to Vladimir Putin on June 5, titled "Enough of the War." He wrote that Putin had spent "almost half of your 26 years of power" fighting Ukraine, calling the conflict "your personal choice." Meanwhile, U.S.-brokered peace talks remain stalled, Taipei Times reported, leaving Ukraine to absorb the strikes with little diplomatic movement on the horizon.
Russia and Ukraine Offer Sharply Different Accounts
Ukrainian officials call the strike a war crime against a civilian site with no military use. Russia's Defense Ministry typically labels such strikes as hits on "military-related targets" or "decision-making centers." In recent briefings, the Russian MoD has claimed Kyiv-area factories are being used to build or program drones with "NATO specialist assistance," a claim Ukraine and Western governments reject.
The UN takes a different view from both sides. International monitors say the pattern of damage — apartment blocks, food plants, dairy facilities — points to strikes that are "indiscriminate" in nature regardless of stated military intent. The destruction of the Yagotynske plant, which makes baby food, adds to growing concerns about Ukraine's food supply chain and the long-term economic cost of targeting civilian industry, according to Reuters.
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