As the missiles came, a woman knelt on the floor of a Kyiv metro station and prayed. Around her, residents had rushed underground, clutching bags and blankets, filling the platforms of a transit system that has long served as a last refuge. Parents held children. Elderly women sat against tiled walls.
This is what an ordinary night in Kyiv looks like in the fourth year of Russia’s full-scale war.
According to the Kyiv Metro, last night saw the highest number of people taking refuge in their underground subway systems, with a record-breaking 41,000+ Ukrainians taking shelter across 46 subway stations—over 4,500 of these were children.
On the night between June 1st and 2nd, Russia launched one of its most devastating assaults on Ukraine’s capital, firing 73 missiles and 656 drones, with Kyiv as the primary target. More than 60 were wounded, among them three children, aged 3, 11 and 17. Across Ukraine, at least 14 civilians were killed and hundreds injured.
Across Kyiv, at least nine apartment buildings were damaged, along with a polyclinic, a kindergarten, offices and administrative buildings. In one of the apartment buildings, the upper floors of a nine-story building were partially destroyed, trapping residents under the rubble.
Rescue teams worked through the night with air raid alerts still in effect. The attack cut electricity to 140,000 residents.
These are not just statistics. Behind every statistic is a human story. They are families in high-rise apartments who went to bed in their own homes and woke—if they woke—to smoke, broken glass and silence.
This is the reality Ukrainians live inside every single night. And it is the reality that drives every program the Canada-Ukraine Foundation supports.
Your support keeps CUF partners on the ground—responding, rebuilding lives, and standing with the people of Ukraine when the world moves on to the next headline.
To donate using AMEX, PayPal, or Google Pay, please visit our CanadaHelps page.
About the Canada-Ukraine Foundation (CUF)
Founded in 1995, CUF has a strong track record of providing humanitarian assistance to Ukraine in the areas of healthcare, education and civil society. CUF collaborates with aid providers in Ukraine, Canada, and beyond to maximize impact and cost-effectiveness of your support.