Large Russian strike on Kyiv and other cities kills 12
Missiles and drones struck Kyiv, Boryspil, Odesa, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson; EU ministers met in Wicklow to discuss further support.
On 1 September 2026 a large-scale Russian strike using missiles and drones hit Kyiv and several other Ukrainian cities, killing 12 people and causing widespread damage, Ukrainian authorities said.
A missile strike on a railway depot in Kyiv killed seven people and sparked large fires, the head of the railway company, Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, wrote on Facebook. Dozens of railway workers managed to shelter and survive, he added.
Earlier reports said three people were killed in a heavy aerial attack on Boryspil. President Volodymyr Zelensky said after the overnight strikes that a total of 12 civilians had died and dozens were wounded across Ukraine, and that attacks also struck Odesa, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and other towns.
Targets and official statements
Zelensky criticised the pattern of the strikes, saying they are designed to maximise harm to civilians and that the attacks succeed where air-defence capabilities are insufficient. "Russia always plans its attacks so as to cause as much destruction as possible in people's lives, and it succeeds when air-defence capacities are lacking," he said.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said its forces had carried out a "massive strike" using long-range weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles, targeting military-industrial facilities as well as fuel and energy installations in Kyiv and the surrounding region. Moscow also reported strikes on infrastructure in the Odesa region and on the ports of Odesa and Chornomorsk.
EU defence ministers were meeting in Wicklow, Ireland, on 1 September to discuss continued support for Ukraine, including cooperation with the Ukrainian defence industry. Kyiv has repeatedly urged partners to increase air-defence deliveries ahead of the autumn, citing persistent vulnerabilities.
Photo: press material from the event
