Russian drone strikes kill police, civilians across Ukraine as Moscow resumes near-constant attacks

Russia has intensified its drone and missile campaign across Ukraine, killing at least 16 people in a two-week wave of strikes that has hit police officers, border crossings, and residential neighborhoods from Kyiv to Odesa. The attacks come even as the United States renews efforts to restart direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv.

On 4 September, two police officers were killed and one seriously injured in a Russian drone attack on Bohdanivka hromada in Pavlohrad district, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, according to Ukrainska Pravda. The officers were on duty when the drone struck, making them the latest law enforcement casualties in a war that has increasingly blurred the line between front line and home front.

Two days later, Russian attacks on Kherson Oblast killed two people and injured 20, including children, with two districts of the city of Kherson hit separately, injuring two children and three adults, Ukrainska Pravda reported. The strikes followed a pattern of Russian forces targeting residential areas far from the main battlefields, a tactic that has drawn repeated condemnation from Ukrainian officials.

On 8 September, a Russian missile strike in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast killed two and injured nine, according to Ukrainska Pravda. The same day, a police bodycam captured the moment a Russian missile struck near officers in Kyiv during an overnight attack, footage published by Al Jazeera showed. The strikes came as the US renewed efforts to bring Moscow and Kyiv back to direct talks, underscoring the disconnect between diplomatic momentum on one track and continued violence on the ground.

Russia's drone campaign has also reached Ukraine's western border. On 9 September, a Russian drone attack killed two civilians at the Starokozache crossing between Ukraine and Moldova in the southern Odesa region, Al Jazeera reported. Three others were injured, including a Moldovan driver, according to Odesa regional head Oleh Kiper. The crossing, about 500km south of Kyiv, was temporarily shut after the attack caused a large fire.

The attack on the border crossing has drawn particular concern in Moldova, which has increasingly found itself caught up in the conflict. Prime Minister Vasile Tofan confirmed that 17 drones struck Moldovan territory in August alone — more than during the whole of last year. "Those who ignore or downplay these threats - and refuse to name the aggressor - are denying reality," he wrote on social media. "Russia started this war. Russia alone bears responsibility."

The same night, Russian forces also attacked Kyiv, causing fires but no casualties, according to emergency services. The Russian defence ministry claimed its forces had struck a Ukrainian cargo vessel carrying military equipment in the Black Sea and a warehouse in Kyiv allegedly belonging to a drone manufacturing company, Russian news agencies reported.

In the capital, a separate Russian drone attack on the night of 15-16 September hit a warehouse in the Sviatoshynskyi district, causing a fire and injuring one person, Ukrainska Pravda reported. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the person had been taken to hospital. The attack came after an air-raid warning was issued at 05:05 as a Russian jet-powered UAV approached the city.

The strikes have not been limited to eastern and southern Ukraine. On 9 September, Russian attacks on Mykolaiv killed two and injured 12, Ukrainska Pravda reported. On 12 September, a Russian drone strike on a house in Zaporizhzhia killed two and injured one, according to Ukrainska Pravda. On 13 September, Russia killed two and injured ten in Kramatorsk, Ukrainska Pravda reported.

Russia has also suffered losses. Ukrainian drones struck the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, killing four people including a child, and hit an industrial facility in the Arctic city of Novy Urengoy, nearly 3,000km from Ukraine, BBC News reported. The Russian defence ministry said it shot down 596 Ukrainian drones overnight, with Novorossiysk hit hardest in what governor Veniamin Kondratiev described as a "massive overnight enemy drone attack."

The escalation comes despite renewed diplomatic efforts. US envoys held "substantive" talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, and Moscow resumed its near-constant air attacks on the capital on Tuesday after a brief halt during the visit of US peace negotiators, officials said. Five people were killed in Kyiv during that attack.

Zelensky renewed calls for international support in the wake of the Starokozache attack, saying "the aggression must be stopped here and now before it spreads any further." The statement reflects a growing frustration among Ukrainian officials that diplomatic efforts have not translated into a reduction in violence.

The strategic picture is clear: Russia is using long-range drones and missiles to strike civilian infrastructure and border regions, testing Ukraine's air defences and its ability to protect its population. The attacks on the Moldova border crossing signal a willingness to widen the conflict's geographic scope, even as Moscow denies targeting civilians.

For European readers, the implications are immediate. Moldova's increasing entanglement in the drone war raises questions about the stability of the region beyond Ukraine's borders. And the continued strikes on Kyiv, Kramatorsk, and other cities demonstrate that Russia's campaign is not abating, regardless of diplomatic overtures.