Russian strikes killed 16 civilians in Ukraine on 3 June

Russian military strikes on 3 June killed 16 civilians in the Kharkiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Sumy regions and injured at least 95 others, including in the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa regions, according to Ukraine’s National Police.

Damage to a residential building in the Donetsk Oblast struck by Russian forces

Those killed in Russian attacks included:

• Four people in Pryozerne, Bilozerka and Komyshany in the Kherson Oblast, where Russian forces carried out artillery strikes;
• Two residents of Kherson;
• Five people in Kramatorsk and Oleksiievo-Druzhkivka in the Donetsk Oblast, targeted by Russian drones and guided aerial bombs;
• A woman in Kharkiv and two men in Rokytne in the Kharkiv Oblast;
• A man in the Mykolaivka “hromada,” a local government area that includes one or more nearby settlements, 
  in the Sumy Oblast, where a Russian drone struck;
• A man in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

At least 23 civilians were injured in Russian strikes across the Kherson Oblast on 3 June. The casualties included an elderly woman from Pryozerne, three residents of Myroliubivka, two employees of an enterprise in Vysoke and residents of Kherson. The daily casualty report also included nine civilians who had been injured in Russian attacks on previous days.

Another 22 civilians were wounded in Russian attacks across the Kharkiv Oblast, including four people injured in a missile strike on Chuhuiv, nine people – including a teenager – in Rokytne, and eight residents of Kharkiv.

Residents inspect windows shattered by a Russian strike on a residential building in the Kharkiv Oblast

In the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, 16 civilians were injured on 3 June, including residents of the Nikopol and Synelnykove districts, which Russian forces targeted with drones.

In the Donetsk Oblast, Russian attacks wounded 11 civilians, most of them residents of Kramatorsk and Druzhkivka, which were struck by aerial bombs and drones.

Eight people were injured in Russian strikes in the Sumy Oblast, while four others were wounded in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast and two in the Odesa Oblast.

Russian military strikes across Ukraine killed 27 civilians on 2 June.

Russian forces have intensified their attacks. As a result, the number of people killed and injured during the first four months of 2026 was 21% higher than in January–April 2025. Compared with the same period in 2024, the number of casualties increased by 93%.

In other news, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has proposed, in an open letter dated 4 June, that Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin set a date for a meeting to end the war.

“Ukraine proposes ending this war through direct engagement between us – me and you. I am proposing a meeting. Everyone heard your representatives, smiling, say that I could supposedly come to Moscow. But after these 26 years, there is nothing for a Ukrainian leader to do in your capital – just as there is nothing for a Russian leader to do in Kyiv,” Zelenskyy wrote.

He stated that there are countries that traditionally host leaders to resolve questions of war and peace, among them Switzerland, Türkiye and countries of the Arab world.

“I propose to set a clear date for such a meeting,” the president wrote.

“Ukraine is ready for a full ceasefire for the duration of the negotiations. This is standard practice, and current developments around Iran only reinforce that point. An attempt to establish real silence is the best way to begin talking to one another. We believe it would not simply be an attempt, but a real ceasefire – if that is what you want,” Zelenskyy emphasised

The President of Ukraine also stated that the United States could ensure ceasefire monitoring along the line of contact.

In addition, he said that Ukraine is also ready for a prisoner-of-war exchange on an “all-for-all” basis, which could serve as a good prologue to ending the war. Zelenskyy stated that serious steps must also be taken to secure the return of civilians and children taken away during the course of the war.

“We must determine what kind of future awaits the generations of Ukrainians and Russians who will come after us. If you do not personally come to the conclusion that it is time to end this war, Ukraine will continue fighting for its existence. We will have those who support us. But you, too, will have to fight much harder for your own existence — not Russia’s, but your own. And this is not a threat from me or from Ukraine. It is a fact of Russian history that you know well: when Russia grows tired, change comes. We can work toward that fatigue. You can stop your war,” Zelenskyy said.

On X, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha stated that this open letter is a serious and meaningful proposal to end the war. Directly from the President of Ukraine to the President of the Russian Federation. 

“We are also passing this letter officially through diplomatic channels. We expect a meaningful response to this proposal. It’s time to end this war. It’s time to choose peace,” the Minister said.

U.S. President Donald Trump commented at the White House on Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s open letter to Putin, saying he supports a meeting between the two leaders.

 “Well, I don’t know. I am glad that they are, perhaps, talking about a meeting,” he said and called Zelenskyy and Putin “good people” from two “incredible countries.” He also added that the United States of America “has done a lot” for this meeting.

“I think it would be great if they met. They should do it. Finish it,” Donald Trump said.