Russian drone campaign hammers Kyiv for third week, petrol stations hit in latest strike

Russia has maintained an intense drone-attack campaign against Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast since late August, hitting civilian infrastructure, logistics hubs, educational institutions and, most recently, petrol stations. The latest strike on 11 September hit fuel stations in the capital, though full details remain limited as emergency crews respond Source 12.

The campaign has escalated in both frequency and reach. On 27 August, Russia launched approximately 140 attack drones against Ukraine, more than 100 of them jet-powered, with the majority directed at Kyiv, according to Ukraine's Air Force Source 4. Air defence shot down or jammed roughly 120 of them, but debris falling in the Holosiivskyi and Pecherskyi districts damaged a car and a sport facility Source 1.

The same day, Russian strikes destroyed distribution centres serving the Comfy electronics chain and the Aurora multimarket chain in Kyiv Oblast. Comfy CEO Hennadii Verbylenko said no employees were injured thanks to pre-prepared shelters Source 2. Aurora co-founder Taras Panasenko confirmed the destruction of a second distribution centre in less than a week, following a 22 August attack on a facility in Poltava Oblast Source 3.

On the night of 27–28 August, Russian forces struck a Nova Poshta logistics depot in Sviatopetrivske, Kyiv Oblast. Bilohorodka Mayor Anton Ovsiienko reported that approximately an hour after the initial strike, while firefighters were tackling the blaze, two more strikes hit the same location. Firefighters managed to move to safety Source 5. The attack killed one person and injured two in Bucha and Fastiv districts; civilian infrastructure including 14 warehouses, 16 houses, three apartment buildings and 16 vehicles were damaged Source 6.

Daytime attacks continued on 30 August, with a fire breaking out in a non-residential building in Shevchenkivskyi district and drone debris damaging the façade of a café in Holosiivskyi district Source 7. On the evening of 1 September, jet-powered UAVs sparked fires in Holosiivskyi, Solomianskyi and Sviatoshynskyi districts Source 9.

Perhaps the most brazen attack came on 2 September, when Russian drones struck the National University of Food Technologies while classes were underway. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Education Minister Andrii Butenko confirmed that 160 students and staff were unharmed because they were in a shelter. The university buildings suffered damage Source 10. That same day, a six-storey residential building was partially destroyed, a medical facility damaged, and the number of injured in the capital rose to seven Source 10.

By 9 September, the injury toll in Kyiv had climbed to nine after an attack that saw a drone land in the Dniprovskyi district Source 11. The sustained campaign has tested Kyiv's air defence, which Mayor Vitali Klitschko said has been responding continuously Source 1.

The targeting of logistics hubs, educational institutions, and now petrol stations indicates a deliberate effort to disrupt daily life and degrade critical infrastructure. While Ukrainian forces have intercepted a high proportion of incoming drones, the sheer volume and the use of jet-powered UAVs – which fly faster and are harder to track – have made it impossible to prevent all damage. The repeated strikes on the same locations, such as the Nova Poshta depot and Aurora centres, suggest Russian forces are exploiting patterns in emergency response to inflict additional harm.

The strategic significance is clear: Russia is trying to grind down Ukraine's economic backbone and civilian morale before winter. For Kyiv's residents, the constant drone alerts have become a daily reality, with 11 separate air-raid warnings issued on 27 August alone Source 4. As the campaign enters its third week, the pressure on Ukraine's air defence resources and the resilience of its civilian infrastructure will only grow.