A large-scale Russian missile and drone assault on Kyiv and its surrounding region killed at least eight people overnight into Tuesday, Ukrainian officials said, with seven of the dead reported at a railway depot struck by ballistic missiles. The attack, described by Kyiv's regional military administration as "massive," involved a combination of ballistic missiles and strike drones and triggered air-raid alerts across most of Ukraine for much of the night. Dozens of explosions were heard across the capital within minutes of each other, with fires reported at multiple sites.
Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, chief executive of Ukrainian Railways, confirmed that a missile strike hit a railway depot and other rail facilities in Kyiv, killing seven people — six of them company employees — and hospitalising another worker. The strike caused what he described as "extensive destruction," including the complete demolition of a workshop. One additional person was killed in strikes on Boryspil, a city roughly 25 kilometres east of Kyiv, where a residential building and a business premises were also hit, leaving at least nine more wounded, including a child. Russia's defence ministry confirmed it had carried out a "massive strike" using long-range weapons and drones, stating the targets were military-industrial and fuel and energy facilities, as well as port infrastructure in the southern Odesa region.
The attack is the sixth consecutive day of Russian strikes on or around the Ukrainian capital, and comes amid a broader intensification of the air campaign in recent weeks. Russian forces have shifted tactics, launching smaller but more frequent drone sorties — often three to four drones every hour from the north — in addition to larger ballistic missile salvoes. The latest version of Russia's Shahed attack drone, jet-powered and capable of reaching speeds of up to 500 kilometres per hour, has significantly shortened warning times and made interception harder. Up to 50,000 Kyiv residents have been sleeping in metro stations nightly to shelter from overnight strikes.
The strikes came on the first day of the new school year, prompting authorities to ban large gatherings in high-risk areas. Ukraine continues to face a critical shortage of interceptor missiles, particularly US-made Patriot systems designed to counter ballistic threats. Russian attacks have also increasingly targeted logistics infrastructure, warehouses, and supermarkets; Ukraine's agriculture minister has estimated that around 90 percent of the country's warehouses have already been destroyed, contributing to shortages of basic goods and rising prices. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday that intelligence suggested President Vladimir Putin intends to escalate the war further — an assessment that the latest strikes appear to bear out.