Russia struck Kyiv and the surrounding region for a sixth consecutive day Tuesday, killing at least 12 people as Moscow increasingly relies on fast, jet-powered drones that Ukraine says are significantly harder to intercept.
8 Killed in Kyiv
Putin with Military in 2018 Creative Commons Image
Putin Back in 2018 Creative Commons Image
Eight people were killed in Kyiv and another four in Boryspil, a city just outside the capital, according to Ukrainian officials cited by Reuters.
Most of those killed in Kyiv were railway workers. At least 20 people were injured across the capital and surrounding region, the BBC reported.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Russian drones and ballistic missiles had targeted residential neighborhoods and railway infrastructure.
“It is time to signal [to] the Kremlin that imitating diplomacy does not work anymore,” Sybiha wrote on X, calling for additional air-defense systems and greater economic pressure on Moscow.
The attack came as Ukraine runs critically short of U.S.-made Patriot interceptors, one of its principal defenses against Russian ballistic missiles.
Russia Fired Almost 3K Ballistic Missiles in August
Russia launched more than 2,800 of them during August, Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said Tuesday. Ukraine intercepted only around 60 percent, according to The Independent.
The missiles can move at three times the speed of the Iranian-made Shahed drones heavily used by Russia throughout the war.
Rather than limiting attacks largely to nighttime, Moscow has also begun sending waves of drones toward Kyiv during the day, repeatedly forcing residents into shelters and placing greater demands on Ukrainian air defenses.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia used a “significant number of jet drones and ballistic missiles” in Tuesday’s assault.
Russia, meanwhile, said it had carried out a “massive strike using high-precision weapons” against what it described as Ukrainian military and energy facilities.
In Boryspil, resident Yevhen Zavhorodniy showed Reuters the damage outside his building.
“There’s the crater. My car was parked here, and the blast threw it over there,” he said.
“But we’re alive and well, thank God. My wife, my son and our dog.”
Zavhorodniy had recently moved his family from Sloviansk in eastern Ukraine to the Kyiv region.
The strikes also hit a border crossing with NATO member Romania in the Odesa region and left thousands of families without electricity, Zelenskyy said.
Blaze Erupts at Baltic Port
According to Russian officials, a blaze erupted at Ust-Luga after a Ukrainian drone attack.
The town is one of Russia’s key Baltic Sea ports. Civilian areas were also reportedly damaged in the Samara region.
Novokuibyshevsk, a town also struck on Tuesday, is home to sites owned by Rosneft, Russia’s state oil firm.
On Tuesday, Russia lowered its forecast for this year’s oil production to its lowest ebb since 2009.
“They are screaming in intercepted communications that they cannot organize logistics,” a Ukrainian reconnaissance commander using the call sign Yava told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Crimea.Realities project.
“The spit has become a trap for them,” he said.
Russia Attends G20
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov attended the U.S.-hosted G20 finance ministers’ meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, on Monday – his first in-person appearance at such a gathering since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in 2022.
President Donald Trump defended the decision.
“We like getting along with everybody,” Trump told reporters.
European officials were less enthusiastic. German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil refused to take part in a group photograph if Siluanov was included, helping force the Russian delegation out of the picture.
Klingbeil said he had used the meeting to tell Siluanov “straight to his face” that Moscow must end the war.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also met privately with Siluanov. When the Russian minister attempted to discuss possible areas of economic cooperation, Bessent interrupted him, according to Reuters.
“Nothing is possible until the war is over,” Bessent reportedly said.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the conflict during a meeting Monday.
“Every day spent in war pushes humanity back,” Modi said, while “every step taken towards peace” offered new hope.
Putin Fears Execution if He Loses Ukraine War
Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly fears that ending the war in Ukraine without a victory could threaten his own position.
“They will hang me,” Putin told people around him at some point during the war, according to sources close to the Russian president cited by The Economist newspaper last week.
Moscow has announced plans for new large-scale attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, while Russian military planners have reportedly been ordered to draw up possible operations toward Kyiv and Chernihiv.
About the Author: Georgia Gilholy
Georgia Gilholy is a journalist based in the United Kingdom who has been published in Newsweek, The Times of Israel, and the Spectator. Gilholy writes about international politics, culture, and education.
