Russia unleashed a large aerial assault in and around Ukraine’s capital Tuesday morning, killing at least 12 people and wounding more than a dozen others, including three children. The strikes marked the sixth consecutive day of heavy Russian attacks on Kyiv, an unprecedented stretch of aerial assaults since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbor more than four and a half years ago. Ukrainian officials state Moscow's aim is to disrupt daily life and grind down civilians.
Several million Ukrainian schoolchildren returned to classes on Tuesday for the new school year amidst the onslaught of cruise and ballistic missiles, jet-powered drones, glide bombs, and artillery salvos at Kyiv and eight other regions of Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed 12 fatalities, including one Indian citizen. The attacks struck civilian infrastructure and residential buildings across several districts of Kyiv, with eight deaths reported in the city itself and three in the surrounding region.
Six employees of the state-owned railway company Ukrzaliznytsia were among those killed in Kyiv when a ballistic missile hit a depot and other company premises, according to a social media post by the company's chairman, Oleksandr Pertsovskyi. Nearly 350 emergency workers were deployed in Kyiv and its surrounding region, Zelenskyy stated.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced that its forces conducted a "massive strike" on Ukraine overnight using "precision-guided weapons" and long-range drones. The ministry claimed the assault targeted facilities manufacturing and storing weapons, as well as military-related infrastructure.
Ukraine's air force reported that Russia began the attack at 6 p.m. Monday, employing ballistic, cruise, and anti-radar missiles, along with 218 drones and decoys. Approximately one-third of the drones were jet-powered, which are significantly more difficult to intercept than propeller-driven variants. The primary Russian targets were located in the Kyiv and southern Odesa regions, the air force said.
In the Odesa region, civilian infrastructure was damaged, and one person was wounded, according to regional head Oleh Kiper. Two residential buildings sustained damage, and a fire broke out at a textile factory. Russian forces also struck the Orlivka international ferry crossing on the border with Romania, Kiper added. Additionally, Russia shelled the northern Zhytomyr region, causing fires at an industrial facility and a warehouse, Ukraine's Emergency Service reported.
In the capital, first responders worked to clear rubble from damaged apartment buildings and rescue trapped residents. Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that its air defenses intercepted 516 Ukrainian drones over 18 Russian regions, as well as the illegally annexed Crimean Peninsula and the Black Sea. In the Leningrad region, a drone attack initiated a fire in the port of Ust-Luga, according to Governor Alexander Drozdenko. Ust-Luga is one of Russia's largest oil and gas export terminals, situated over 500 miles from Ukraine, and has been a frequent target of Ukrainian drone attacks this year. The attacks on Ukraine's oil sector, a cornerstone of its economy, represent an extension of Ukraine's campaign to inflict damage on Russian economic assets.