Russia Launches Major Strike on Kyiv, Two Injured as Fires Erupt Across City

Russia's armed forces launched large-scale strikes across Ukrainian cities early Monday morning, with Kyiv among the hardest hit.

The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russia fired 35 missiles and deployed 23 Shahed drones overnight. Ukraine’s air defense managed to intercept nine ballistic missiles, 13 cruise missiles, and 20 drones. Despite these efforts, debris from the intercepted weapons caused significant damage and injuries.

"Russia once again launched a missile attack on Kyiv on the morning of September 2. As of 06:25, two adults had sought medical attention, with one hospitalized,” Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on Telegram.

The State Emergency Service reported that rescuers extinguished fires caused by missile strikes in three Kyiv districts. These fires occurred near a metro station, in a boiler room of an educational institution, and on the property of a private enterprise.

Two kindergartens were damaged in the attacks. Lvenok kindergarten suffered damage from missile debris falling on its building about an hour and a half before it was scheduled to open. Fortunately, there were no casualties.

The Russian Defense Ministry did not directly comment on the strikes in Kyiv. However, on Monday morning, the ministry reported that its air defense systems had destroyed two Ukrainian drones – one over the Belgorod Region and the other over the Black Sea. The governor of Belgorod Region reported casualties from Ukrainian shelling, though specific details were not provided.

Russian attacks extended beyond Kyiv. Ukrainian officials reported that nine communities in Sumy Oblast, as well as settlements in Zaporizhia and Kherson Oblasts, were shelled. Nikopol in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast also faced heavy shelling. In Sumy, 18 people were injured, including six children, according to local police.

Fighting remains intense across Ukraine. The Ukrainian General Staff reported 182 combat clashes in the past 24 hours, with Russian forces launching 63 assaults in the Pokrovsk direction alone.

The latest attack follows a series of strikes on Kharkiv just a day earlier. On September 1, Russian forces launched around ten attacks on the city, injuring more than 40 people. One strike hit a residential area and caused a fire at a supermarket, according to Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov.