Russia has significantly escalated the frequency and intensity of missile and drone attacks against Kyiv in recent months, according to residents and officials. A BBC Verify analysis of government data indicates the capital is experiencing more daily air raid alerts than at any point since the full-scale invasion began. In the first 10 days of July, Russian forces conducted three major ballistic missile strikes that killed approximately 60 civilians. Comparable large-scale operations continued through August and September.
The tactical shift has fundamentally altered how residents experience life in the capital. Previously, Ukraine’s air-defense systems and military intelligence provided a degree of predictability, allowing civilians to take shelter or leave the city ahead of major attacks. However, Russia has increasingly relied on ballistic missiles that travel at high speed and offer minimal advance warning. Air-raid alerts now sometimes commence only moments before impact or simultaneously with initial explosions. This unpredictability has prompted some residents to reconsider their living situations. One 27-year-old woman, who previously felt secure using the standard safety practice of remaining between two interior walls, ultimately decided to relocate to a country house 30 kilometers away following an attack in May, despite the resulting four-hour daily commute to her workplace in the city.
The expanded attack schedule, now including daytime strikes alongside nighttime bombardments, has disrupted essential services and daily life. Schools and kindergartens have housed students in basements during alerts, and many children have remained home instead. Metro services suspend operations during air-raid sirens, frequently severing transportation links across the Dnieper River for extended periods. These disruptions have increased costs for residents, with some reporting expensive taxi fares exceeding 1,000 hryvnias to cross the river when public transport is unavailable.
For elderly and infirm residents unable to access shelters, coping mechanisms remain limited. Some protect themselves by positioning mattresses at windows and sheltering in interior spaces, then endure entire nights of repeated alerts without sleep. Residents have expressed frustration regarding what they perceive as insufficient support from international allies in supplying additional air-defense systems and interceptor missiles to counter the intensified campaign.
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