Russian drone strikes kill child in Kyiv as Nova Poshta shifts logistics and Polish drone factory fire investigated

A two-year-old girl was killed and at least eight people injured in Kyiv on Saturday, 29 August, as Russia launched a massive daytime drone attack on the capital. The strikes, which the Ukrainian Air Force said involved 224 attack UAVs aimed overwhelmingly at Kyiv, also caused a fire when debris hit a house in the Dniprovskyi district that evening. The attacks underscore a sustained campaign to terrorise civilians and disrupt critical logistics, even as Ukraine adapts its infrastructure and faces a potential sabotage incident at a Polish drone factory supplying its military.

Civilian toll in Kyiv

The deadliest single strike occurred in the Obolonskyi district, where a drone crashed into a café, killing a two-year-old girl. A second drone hit a non-residential building in the Podilskyi district, and debris from a later wave landed on a house in the Dniprovskyi district, sparking a fire. The Kyiv City Military Administration confirmed the house fire and said information on casualties was being gathered Source: Ukrainska Pravda, 29 August. The number of injured later rose to eight, according to subsequent reports.

These daytime strikes are part of a pattern: Russia has intensified drone attacks on Ukrainian cities throughout the summer, using Shahed-type UAVs and other loitering munitions. The Air Force’s figure of 224 attack drones in a single day is among the highest reported this year, indicating a deliberate effort to overwhelm air defences and inflict psychological and physical damage on civilians.

Nova Poshta pivots after loss of robotised hub

The drone campaign also targeted logistics infrastructure. On the night of 27-28 August, a Russian drone destroyed Nova Poshta’s most modern robotised fulfilment centre in Sviatopetrivske, a village in Kyiv Oblast. The facility, which handled sorting and storage for the country’s largest private delivery company, was a multimillion-euro investment. In response, Nova Poshta announced on 30 August that it is switching to a decentralised fulfilment model, converting its network of cargo and postal branches into local warehouses Source: Ukrainska Pravda, 30 August.

CEO Yevhen Tafiichuk said the company will distribute clients’ stock across multiple locations to reduce dependence on a single centre. “This is not the first strike on our infrastructure. But this time we lost our most modern robotised fulfilment centre – the result of years of work, investment and the best engineering solutions,” Tafiichuk stated. He added that Nova Poshta will compensate publishers and stores whose books were destroyed in the attack. The shift is a pragmatic adaptation: by spreading inventory, the company hopes to keep businesses running even under repeated strikes.

Suspicious fire at Polish drone factory

On the night of 30-31 August, a fire broke out at the WB Electronics factory in Skarżysko-Kamienna, Poland, a company that produces military drones for both the Polish and Ukrainian armed forces Source: Ukrainska Pravda, 31 August. The fire, which started 23 minutes after midnight, was relatively small and extinguished within two hours. But surveillance cameras reportedly captured an unknown individual wearing a balaclava entering the premises over a fence. An abandoned rucksack and a long-sleeved top were found nearby.

Polish authorities are treating the incident seriously. The Internal Security Agency and military counterintelligence were notified, and police have opened an investigation. Jacek Dobrzyński, spokesperson for the minister-coordinator for special services, cautioned against disinformation but acknowledged: “We take this situation very seriously… Internal Security Agency officers are working meticulously to determine whether there are grounds to speak of sabotage.”

The incident echoes a previous case in the Baltic region: Latvia recently detained three citizens on suspicion of arson at a drone factory in neighbouring Estonia. While the cause of the Skarżysko-Kamienna fire remains unconfirmed, the presence of an intruder in a balaclava raises the possibility of deliberate sabotage targeting Ukraine’s drone supply chain.

Strategic significance

Taken together, the three events illustrate the multi-layered nature of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Direct drone strikes kill civilians and destroy infrastructure; the Nova Poshta attack shows Moscow targeting logistics hubs to disrupt the economy; and the Polish factory fire – if proven to be sabotage – would represent an attempt to degrade Ukraine’s domestic drone production capacity at source. For Ukraine, adapting logistics and securing supply chains are as vital as defending the front line. The coming weeks will show whether Nova Poshta’s decentralised model can withstand further strikes, and whether Polish investigators find evidence of a coordinated sabotage network.