Russian drone assaults on Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, and its neighboring areas persisted for the fifth consecutive day on Monday, causing disruptions in the daily lives of millions due to almost continuous air raid sirens.
On Monday morning, the attacks resulted in injuries to four individuals and inflicted damage on warehouse facilities, an apartment building, and a retail outlet in the Kyiv region, as reported by regional Governor Tymur Tkachenko via Telegram.
Over the past days, Kyiv and its vicinity have been under siege by swarms of drones, many of which are powered by jet engines, leading to casualties among residents and destruction of residences and storage facilities. An attack by a Russian drone on an ammunition depot on Friday caused explosions that claimed the lives of 38 people.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated on Sunday that the incessant drone assaults were a tactic to wear down the Ukrainian population. He disclosed that Russia had launched nearly 1,500 drones at Ukraine in four days, with more than half of them being jet-powered.
A Russian strike also triggered a fire at a terminal managed by the private courier company Nova Poshta in the southern Odesa region, as confirmed by Governor Oleh Kiper on Monday.
In the southeastern city of Kryvyi Rih, an industrial business was targeted by a jet-powered drone attack, resulting in injuries to two individuals according to a local official on Monday.
Both Ukraine and Russia have escalated attacks in recent weeks, particularly targeting economic assets such as major e-commerce entities and retailers. Russia has focused on warehouses belonging to Ukraine’s leading supermarket chains, primary postal service, and home-goods stores. Conversely, Ukraine has also retaliated by targeting Russian infrastructure, with a logistics hub in Russia’s Yekaterinburg being attacked by drones, as reported by the local governor.
Russia has intensified its aerial assaults during the summer, taking advantage of Ukraine’s lack of interceptors capable of downing ballistic missiles. The increased use of daytime drone attacks has disrupted the daily routines of Kyiv residents, leading to halts in metro services and causing chaos in their schedules.
During the alerts, numerous passengers in Kyiv were stranded on crowded platforms while waiting for the metro service to resume after train operations were halted from crossing the Dnipro River.
Among the affected individuals was Yulianna Oliynyk, a 38-year-old nurse and psychologist, who was accompanying her two sons to school before the academic year commenced. They were left stranded on a metro platform due to an air raid alert. Oliynyk expressed her frustration, mentioning that they had spent the previous night with relatives after their journey was disrupted by alerts, contemplating the possibility of sleeping in the metro due to the ongoing disruptions.