Mourning in Kyiv as war pressed on 3 July

What did the war look like on 3 July 2026, the day after one of the heaviest attacks on the Ukrainian capital? It was a day defined by grief in Kyiv, by Ukrainian strikes across occupied Crimea, and by a Russian announcement from the eastern front.

A day of mourning

Ukraine declared a day of mourning on 3 July for the victims of the Russian bombardment of Kyiv on 2 July. The death toll had risen to 30 by then. The previous day, Russian forces had launched a major ballistic missile and drone attack on the city, which killed at least 30 people and injured 98 others. More than 50,000 civilians were forced to shelter underground.

Elsewhere in the country, Russian missile and drone strikes killed at least five people and injured ten others on 3 July. Among the dead were three people in Sumy, where a drone struck their apartment building.

Strikes on Crimea

Ukrainian forces hit targets across Russian-occupied Crimea on the same day. They struck nine substations, causing power outages. They also targeted the Saky and Gvardeyskoye air bases, where seven jets were destroyed or damaged.

Crimea has been occupied by Russia since 2014 and served as a base for the occupation of parts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts from 24 February 2022, when major hostilities began. Drones have been used by Ukraine to strike military infrastructure in Russian territory, and by Russia against Ukrainian critical infrastructure.

The eastern front

Russia reported on 3 July that its forces had captured the eastern Ukrainian city of Kostyantynivka in Donetsk Oblast. Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv have been the site of an ongoing theatre of operations since the war began in February 2022.

Funding the defence effort

Two days earlier, on 1 July, Ukraine had approved a mechanism for exporting domestically produced weapons and military technologies. The aim was to raise funds for the defence effort and attract foreign investment. The rules require that the supply needs of the Ukrainian military remain the priority.

Taken together, the events of 3 July showed the war being fought at once against Ukrainian cities, over Russian-held infrastructure in Crimea, and along the eastern front, while Kyiv also worked on ways to finance its defence.