Questions over whether the Russia-Ukraine war is entering a new phase are mounting as Kyiv endures repeated drone attacks and near-constant air raid alerts, including growing waves during daylight hours — an expansion beyond the nighttime barrages that have become grimly familiar to residents of the Ukrainian capital.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia launched nearly 1,500 drones over four days, more than half of them jet-powered, accusing Moscow of attempting to wear down Ukraine and its population. The attacks have repeatedly interrupted Kyiv’s metro system and daily commutes, Reuters reported Aug. 31, as residents are forced to seek shelter during daytime air raid alerts.
As Ukrainians seek some semblance of normalcy at the end of the summer and prepare for the start of the school year, the relentless attacks are again sending already exhausted Kyiv residents underground.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has simultaneously intensified attacks on Ukraine’s warehouses and logistics network, damaging distribution centers used by major retailers and disrupting food deliveries.
Russian drone attacks on Kyiv and the surrounding region stretched into a fifth consecutive day Monday, with strikes damaging warehouses, a retail outlet and residential buildings in the Kyiv region.
The attacks are part of a broader campaign against Ukrainian commercial and logistics infrastructure. Reuters reported Aug. 28 that Russia had targeted warehouses belonging to major supermarket chains, Ukraine’s largest private postal company and home-goods retailers.
Ukraine’s Agriculture Minister Taras Vysotskyi said that roughly 90% of the food logistics infrastructure operated by retail chains had been destroyed.
"As of today, roughly speaking, 90% of food logistics operated by retail chains have been destroyed, but that doesn't mean Ukrainians will be left without food," Vysotskyi told reporters in Kyiv, according to Ukrainian state news agency Ukrinform. He said retailers would shift logistics and use alternative methods of delivering food.
Ukrainian outlet TSN reported Aug. 30 that some NOVUS locations in Kyiv were short of bread, potatoes, apples and oatmeal, while supermarket chain ATB had introduced limits on how much of certain products customers could purchase.
Ukraine, meanwhile, has expanded its own campaign against Russian economic infrastructure. Ukrainian drones have targeted oil facilities as well as warehouses connected to major Russian online retailers, including Wildberries and Ozon. Reuters reported Monday that a logistics hub in Yekaterinburg was also struck by a drone.
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