Intense attacks exhaust Kyiv residents — BBC News
In Kyiv, an intensification of Russian missile and drone attacks is forcing residents to change their daily lives, give up spending nights at home, or prepare several shelter plans. The aggressor state, the Russian Federation, has increased the intensity of strikes on Ukraine’s capital in recent months and has more often used ballistic missiles, warnings about which may sound only a few minutes before explosions, BBC News reports.
BBC Verify’s analysis based on government data found that more daily air-raid alerts are now declared in Kyiv than during any period since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022. During the first ten days of July, Russians launched dozens of ballistic missiles in three large-scale attacks which, according to official data, killed nearly 60 civilians. Similar large-scale strikes also took place in August and September.
Only a few minutes to reach shelter
Twenty-seven-year-old Daria said that she had previously been able to sleep in her apartment even at night during shelling, relying on the two-walls rule. After an attack in May, she stopped feeling safe at home. The woman rents an apartment on the ninth floor and can see the nearest shelter from her window, but getting there takes about ten minutes. During a ballistic attack, she said, the warning may be four minutes or less.
In June, Daria decided to leave Kyiv for her family home in Romankiv, about 30 km from the capital. She works in the defense sector and spends a total of four hours commuting to and from Kyiv every day. At the same time, leaving the capital is not possible for many people.
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Sleepless nights and disruptions in the city
Sixty-two-year-old Olha Vlasova lives on the seventh floor of an apartment building with her 98-year-old mother, Nadiia Tsybina, who cannot leave her bed. During an alert, Olha covers her mother with a blanket, places a mattress by the window to protect against glass shards, and hides herself in a wardrobe behind two walls. Because of the shelling, she often does not sleep at night, following the news.
Daytime alerts also affect education, transport, and business operations. In early September, schoolchildren returned to classes amid dozens of alerts, explosions, and fires: some children stayed at home, while others spent hours in the basements of schools and kindergartens. During alerts, shopping centers close and above-ground metro stations suspend operations, which can complicate travel between the left and right banks of the Dnipro for several hours.
On September 17, Russia carried out a ballistic strike on Kyiv. According to Mayor Vitali Klitschko, 20 people were injured, including two children aged 10 and 12.
