Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine Air strikes on Kyiv at the beginning of the new school year - several dead
Before the start of the new school year in Ukraine, Russia is again attacking Kyiv from the air. At least eleven people die. In Estonia and Latvia there were warnings of intruding flying objects and fighter jets had to take off.
At the start of the new school year in Ukraine, Russia again attacked Kyiv and the surrounding region with drones and missiles. According to Ukrainian authorities, at least eleven people were killed. “Unfortunately, three people were killed in the enemy attack on the capital,” the Kyiv military administration said on the Telegram online service. There are also reports of five injuries.
In Boryspil, east of Kyiv, another person was killed in a Russian attack on a business facility, according to military authorities. The head of the Kyiv region's military administration, Timur Tkachenko, spoke of a "massive" nighttime attack "with Russian missiles and combat drones." According to him, a residential building was also hit in Boryspil. Eight people were injured.
Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, CEO of the Ukrainian railway company Ukrzaliznytsia, said on Facebook that seven people, including six railway employees, had been killed in an attack on a railway depot and other railway facilities.
"Since the end of 2025, but especially since the second quarter of this year, the Russians have been literally hunting our moving trains," Pertsovskyi told SPIEGEL in a recently published interview. Read the conversation here.
The Ukrainian air force announced on Telegram that night that “several targets” were moving towards the capital. Residents were asked to stay in shelters.
The new school year begins in Ukraine on Tuesday. The authorities in Kyiv want to adapt their security measures in the event of air alerts in view of increasing drone attacks from Russia. However, the region's military administration ordered that no large events could take place in high-risk areas.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Monday on the Telegram online service that he had brought together officials in the Ukrainian capital to discuss changes to security measures. He suggested, for example, that the subway should continue to run over the Dnipro bridges. In the event of an air alert, the metro currently stops its traffic across the river, causing significant traffic problems.
The Russian army has recently significantly expanded its attacks on Ukraine. Swarms of combat drones regularly fly towards the capital and the surrounding region. During air alerts, traffic and economic life partially come to a standstill. The Kyiv city administration also announced that it wanted to focus more on online learning for school children. It was the sixth consecutive day of attacks on the capital region.
Ukraine also continued its attacks on Russian territory. According to the mayor, more than a dozen drones were shot down in Moscow. According to the local governor, civilian facilities were damaged in the Russian region of Samara, about 800 kilometers southeast of Moscow. According to the regional governor there, the important Russian Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga has also become the target of a drone attack. "Damage has been caused in the port area of Ust-Luga as a result of the drone attack and there is a fire," said the governor of the Leningrad region, Alexander Drozdenko, on Telegram.
The port of Ust-Luga on the Gulf of Finland near the Estonian border is an important transshipment point for fertilizer, oil and coal from Russia. According to the Russian authorities, he has already been attacked several times. Ukraine had recently increased its counterattacks on Russian infrastructure, including refineries, oil depots and ports. Kyiv sees these facilities as legitimate targets to reduce Russia's oil revenues to finance its offensive in Ukraine.
Air alert in Estonia and Latvia
According to Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna, air alerts were raised in parts of Estonia overnight after drones flew near the border and entered Estonian airspace. NATO fighter jets from Ämari air base then took off, Tsahkna wrote in a post on X. NATO's reaction was quick and planned, the minister explained. Incidents of this kind are a direct result of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and underline the need to increase pressure on Russia to end the war.
Latvia's military also issued a warning about a "danger in the airspace" on Tuesday night. The population was asked to seek shelter in buildings, to observe the two-wall principle and not to approach suspicious or low-flying objects.
