Kyiv: A series of Russian drone and missile strikes on Sunday, September 7, triggered massive fires across the Ukrainian capital, leaving three people dead, including an infant, and injuring at least 18 others. The assault caused significant destruction in both government and residential areas of Kyiv, with emergency services battling flames in multiple districts.

According to Timur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, a blaze broke out on the upper floors of a key administrative government building in the Pecherskyi district following the attacks. Eyewitnesses reported dense smoke rising above the city skyline, while Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed that drones first rained down on the capital, followed by waves of missile strikes.

Among the fatalities, Klitschko confirmed the deaths of an infant and a young woman, while a pregnant woman was among those hospitalised. An elderly woman also died while sheltering in Darnytskyi district, where a residential building was partially destroyed. Fires engulfed several floors of a nine-storey apartment block in the area, and falling debris sparked additional blazes in a 16-storey residential tower and two more apartment complexes.

In other regions, explosions rocked the central city of Kremenchuk, leading to power outages, while Russian strikes in Kryvyi Rih damaged transport and urban infrastructure. In Odesa, multiple apartment blocks caught fire as missiles hit civilian areas, though casualties were not immediately reported. Ukrainian officials accused Moscow of deliberately targeting civilians, though Russia has denied such claims.

The escalation prompted Poland to activate its own and allied aircraft to safeguard western Ukraine from potential spillover threats. The attacks highlight the ongoing dangers faced by Ukrainian cities more than two years after Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022.