The screech of air-raid sirens, the buzzing of drones, first approaching, then fading. The rattle of machine guns and the roar of air defense missiles being launched. Explosions in the sky.
These are the sounds of Kyiv, night after night.
Russia has kept up a steady barrage of Ukrainian cities, intensifying by the night, in recent months despite pressure from the Trump administration to work toward a cease-fire. A record number of drones and missiles have been launched, according to Ukrainian officials.
The attacks have been terrifying for residents of cities like Kyiv, the capital, making a good night’s sleep impossible. When the sun rises, people get up and try to shake off the stiffness in their backs from sleeping in uncomfortable positions — in corridors, bathrooms or subway stations — and fight through the fog of a sleepless night to carry on with their lives.
“All night in a shelter, the children trembled and cried,” Larysa Bilozir, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament, wrote on Facebook. “But we, the people of Kyiv — and I — are heading to work!” She added that as she wrote, her son was already at nursery school and she had arrived at Parliament to meet with visiting delegates from the Council of Europe. “I wonder how they survived this night in Kyiv,” she wrote.
Russia attacked Ukraine on Tuesday with 315 drones and seven missiles, according to Ukrainian officials, a day after another huge assault. On other nights, Russia fires more drones at different cities as part of its intensified campaign of air attacks.
In Kyiv, residents described Tuesday as one of the loudest nights in the monthslong air campaign by Russia. Fires and damaged buildings were reported in seven of the capital’s 10 districts. In the morning, black smoke floated over the city and ambulance sirens could be heard in the streets. In the southern city of Odesa, two people were killed and nine others injured, local officials said.
The overnight barrages came a day after Russia launched almost 500 drones and missiles at Ukraine in what Ukrainian officials said was the largest such assault since the Russian invasion in early 2022. The attacks have escalated since Ukraine mounted a wave of drone strikes on strategic bombers at air bases inside Russia on June 1.
The intensifying aerial assaults by Russia appear to be part of a broader campaign by Moscow to overwhelm and deplete Ukrainian air defenses as it mounts a new offensive on the ground in eastern Ukraine.
The campaigns by Russia and Ukraine have come despite efforts by the Trump administration to push both sides toward a cease-fire. But talks have faltered. The latest round, this month in Istanbul, yielded little result apart from another agreement to swap prisoners.
Nataliia Novosolova contributed reporting.
Maria Varenikova covers Ukraine and its war with Russia.
The post With Sirens Screeching and Explosions in the Sky, Kyiv Struggles to Sleep appeared first on New York Times.
