Kyiv

Kyiv is the capital of Ukraine, home to roughly 2.9 million people before the war, seat of the presidency and Parliament, and the political centre around which every diplomatic and military development in the conflict pivots. The ground assault on the city was repelled in March-April 2022; Russian forces have not reached its outskirts since, though aerial bombardment has continued throughout. Founded in tradition around 482 AD, it sits on the Dnipro and remains the symbolic and administrative heart of the Ukrainian state.

Kyiv suffered the most destructive single attack of the full-scale war on 24 May 2026: Russia fired two Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missiles simultaneously, the first dual salvo of the war, as the anchor of a 690-weapon barrage that struck roughly 300 sites across every city district. The Chornobyl Museum lost more than 40% of its collection and four people were killed. The following day, Lavrov formally warned Washington to evacuate diplomatic staff from the city, the first such demand of the full-scale war.

On the financial side, Peter Magyar's incoming Hungarian government lifted the last EU veto, and the Rada approved the EUR90 billion Ukraine loan on 2 June. The EU Council opened Ukraine's formal accession negotiations on 18 June.