Russian air strikes kill 12 in Kyiv as attacks on Ukraine intensify

Kyiv — Russian air attacks killed 12 people and injured many more in Kyiv and the surrounding region early on Tuesday, authorities said, marking the sixth straight day of intense strikes on the Ukrainian capital.

Russia, which began its full-scale invasion of its smaller neighbour in 2022, has escalated its air attacks against Ukraine in recent months as its progress has slowed on the battlefield.

In a new tactic since last week, Moscow has sent swarms of drones to plague Kyiv and nearby areas day and night, killing residents and damaging homes and warehouses. Many of the drones are new, fast-flying jet-powered models that are harder to intercept.

Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said Russian drones and ballistic missiles had targeted residential areas and railway infrastructure in the overnight attacks.

Eight people were killed in Kyiv, most of them railway workers, officials said.

More explosions were heard in Kyiv on Tuesday morning, when three people were injured in a daytime drone attack that caused a fire at an apartment block, mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

“Right now, I think everyone is living one day at a time. It’s especially difficult to make long-term plans because you never know when something like what happened today might happen,” Svitlana, a 40-year-old resident of the damaged apartment complex, told Reuters.

“We’ve reached our limit, to be honest. It’s very difficult psychologically, especially when you still have to work during the day. But we’re holding on,” another resident, Diana, 28, said.

A couple, Bohdan and Oleksandra, said they were planning to move away from Kyiv this winter.

The Russian strikes also targeted a border crossing with Nato-member Romania in the Black Sea region of Odesa. Thousands of families there were left without electricity, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Foreign minister Sybiha called on Ukraine’s allies to increase economic pressure on Russia and to provide Ukraine with more air defences and support for its energy system. Kyiv is running critically low on the US-made Patriot interceptors capable of stopping Russia’s ballistic missiles, though it recently received a small batch of them.

Russia sent more than 2,800 jet-powered drones against Ukraine in August, air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat said, after increasing their use fivefold in July compared with June.

Ukraine has also increased its attacks on Russia, targeting oil refineries and logistics infrastructure, including warehouses of online shopping companies.

Russian regional governors said air attacks caused a fire in the port area of Ust-Luga, a major export outlet in the northwest, and damaged civilian facilities in the Samara region, home to a number of oil refineries.