Kyiv residents are spending nights in metro stations as Russian ballistic missile attacks arrive within seconds of air-raid warnings. Ukraine’s military has run out of interceptors for US-made Patriot systems, the only weapon system identified in the source material as capable of stopping the ballistic missiles. A missile wave that began at 11.51pm on Wednesday killed 16 people, according to reports cited in the source material.
The attacks have also damaged homes, vehicles and businesses, while Kyiv officials and residents are already worrying about how the city will manage electricity, heating and water during the coming winter.
Residents have little time to reach shelter
Viktor, 23, and Sofiia, 18, have sheltered with their three-month-old dog, Teddy, at Dorohozhychi metro station every night for the past three weeks. Sofiia said the interval between an air-raid warning and explosions had shortened to about 30 seconds, leaving no time to gather belongings and travel to safety.
The station was nearly full by 10pm on Thursday, with tents and people lying on ground sheets. Metro stations reopen at 6am, and Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said the attacks were intended to drive residents into depression. The source material does not provide a figure for newly built bomb shelters.
Related coverage: Kyiv court detains organiser of weapons expo hit by Russian missile attack.
Strikes are hitting homes and workplaces
In Kyiv’s Solomianskyi district, one missile tore away the top floor of a 10-storey apartment building and killed two people, while another destroyed a disused building in a car park. Vitalii, 42, said his car was badly damaged but its engine still started; he described the psychological effect as making the city more frightening.
A food-distribution warehouse near the unused Boryspil commercial airport was destroyed early Thursday. Rozetka co-founder Iryna Chechotkina said three missiles destroyed the company’s largest distribution hub near Brovary on the night of August 4-5. The $70m facility could send 100,000 parcels a day and employed 1,000 people; its destruction also threatens the 50,000 vendors using the service.
The threat is extending beyond overnight attacks
Viktoriia Ruban of Ukraine’s state emergency services in the Kyiv region said Russian strikes now occur after intervals of three or four hours and can happen in the daytime as well as at night. Drone warnings have sometimes delayed emergency crews, including at the warehouse fire near Boryspil, where parts of the site were still smouldering in the afternoon.
More context: Kyiv reports fires after early-morning missile attack.
United Nations figures cited in the source material show that 437 civilians were killed and 2,610 injured across Ukraine in July, the highest monthly death toll recorded since May 2022. Residents are also preparing for possible losses of central heating and electricity during winter. Maria Hlazunova said she had prepared for power and heating cuts but was especially concerned about access to water and sanitation.
Also read: Kyiv missile attacks kill nine as political pressure grows.
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