3 killed, 4 injured in Kyiv, including children, as dozens of explosions rock Ukraine’s capital
Editor’s note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
- Three people have been killed and four others injured, including two children, have been injured in Kyiv amid the latest Russian attack
- Ballistic missiles targeted Kyiv as air raid sirens sound for the third time since late on Aug. 31
- Dozens of explosions rocked the city within the span of 15 minutes, starting at around 2:23 a.m. local time
Russia continued its attacks on Kyiv for another night as air defenses in Ukraine’s capital shot down Russian drones late into Aug. 31, and ballistic missiles targeted the city overnight on Sept. 1, according to Kyiv Independent journalists on the ground.
Officials reported that at least three people were killed and four others injured in the capital, with eight others reported injured in Kyiv Oblast.
Earlier on Aug. 31, Kyiv faced its fifth day in a row of nonstop Russian jet-powered drone attacks, while Russian strikes in other regions killed at least seven people and injured another 45 over the past day, authorities said.
Russia resumes attacks
As nightfall began on Sept. 1, Ukraine’s air defenses were engaged in Kyiv’s city center once again, and several Russian drones were downed over the city, reporters said.
Fires were recorded throughout the city as Russia’s attack on Kyiv continued, Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said at 9:30 p.m. local time.
A blaze broke out in the city’s Darnytskyi district as a result of a downed drone, in the Solomyanskyi district a wooded area caught fire, and in the Holosiivskyi district drone debris was found at two different locations.
A “very loud” explosion then rocked Kyiv’s city center at around 10:17 p.m., Kyiv Independent Deputy Chief Editor Toma Istomina said.
The Kyiv City Military Administration cleared the air raid alert later at 10:27 p.m. local time after it began hours earlier at 7:46 p.m.
Russia deploys missiles
An alert was declared at 11:32 p.m. and then cleared at 12:15 a.m. the next day, with another alert following at 2:10 a.m. local time as Ukraine’s Air Force warned Kyiv was targeted by several missiles.
Four people, including two children in the Solomyanskyi district, were injured in the Russian attack, the military administration reported.
Dozens of explosions then rocked Kyiv from 2:23 a.m. through 2:34 a.m. shortly after the latest alert was declared, Istomina said.
“This is the biggest missile attack on Kyiv in a while,” Editor-in-Chief Olga Rudenko said as explosions continued to rock the city.
Kyiv Oblast Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko reported that a five-story residential building and an unspecified “enterprise” was damaged in the attack in Boryspil, located in Kyiv Oblast, just outside the capital.
Recent days
In recent days, Kyiv has recorded a record number of air raid alerts as Russia shifts its strategy to launching jet-powered drones in near-hourly attacks rather than its usual massive overnight barrages of ballistic and cruise missiles preceded by waves of drones.
On Aug. 28, the capital recorded 13 alerts, the highest number since Russia launched its full-scale invasion against Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Aug. 30 that around 800 Russian jet-powered drones were launched over the first four days of prolonged attacks.
Russia is increasingly using jet-powered drones, which can travel up to 600 kilometers per hour, more than three times faster than piston-powered Shaheds.
“Right now, Russia’s tactic is to wear down Ukraine and Ukrainians – first and foremost, our people,” Zelensky said in his evening address on Aug. 28.
As Ukraine continues to search for effective defense against the jet-powered drones, Ukraine’s new Defense Minister Yevhen Khmara told reporters on Aug. 29 that Ukraine has tested four potential interceptors against Russian jet-powered Shahed drones.