KYIV — At least 12 people were killed and dozens injured in overnight Russian missile and drone strikes on Ukraine's capital and surrounding areas, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, as Ukrainian Railways reported six of its workers among the dead at a Kyiv depot.

In a post on X, Zelenskyy said nearly 350 first responders were involved in Kyiv and the region alone after a significant number of jet-powered drones and ballistic missiles. He said a five-story residential building in Boryspil was damaged, 50 people were evacuated, and four people were killed and 13 injured in that city. A strike on a Kyiv railway depot killed seven people. Odesa and its region lost power for thousands of families. A border crossing with Romania and export infrastructure were damaged. The Kherson, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, Sumy, and Dnipro regions were also hit. Twelve people were killed overall, including an Indian citizen, he said.

"Russia always plans its strikes specifically to cause as much destruction to people's lives as possible, and it succeeds only when air defense capabilities are insufficient," Zelenskyy wrote. He thanked partners supplying anti-ballistic systems through PURL and bilateral deals and said deliveries should increase this fall. "The number of victims of Russian terror directly hinges on every new package of assistance."

Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, chairman of Ukrzaliznytsia, said ballistic strikes deliberately targeted a railway depot and other railway facilities. Seven people were killed, including six employees, and one colleague was hospitalized, he said, according to Ukrainska Pravda. A workshop was completely destroyed. Firefighters were still fighting fires. Rail traffic on two sections was suspended and later resumed.

BBC reporting put the wider toll at at least 12 killed and about 20 injured, including two children. France 24's live updates later said 12 dead and at least 21 wounded in and around Kyiv. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said eight people were killed and five wounded, including two children, inside the city. Ukraine's Interior Minister Ivan Vyhivsky said the Indian victim, who turned 26 on Tuesday, was killed in Boryspil. Russia's defense ministry said it carried out a "massive strike" with long-range weapons and attack drones against military-industrial and fuel and energy facilities. This was the sixth consecutive day of aerial assaults on the capital, officials and wire reports said.

States are trading missiles for apartments and rail shops. Moscow claims military targets. A five-story block and a depot's night shift say otherwise. Zelenskyy's pitch for more air-defense aid is a state-to-state ask. The people under the drones do not get a vote on either arsenal.

Sources