Kyiv Targeted as Russia Resumes Large-Scale Strikes

Russian forces resumed large-scale missile and drone strikes on Kyiv overnight on 2-3 February, hitting multiple districts of the capital, damaging residential and non-residential buildings, and injuring three people, according to Ukrainian officials. The attack unfolded amid freezing temperatures and marked the end of a short-lived pause in Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

Air defenses in Kyiv were activated shortly after midnight, with the first warnings issued around 00:30 local time as Russian drones approached the city. Explosions were reported soon afterward, and the situation escalated further when Ukraine’s Air Force warned of a ballistic missile threat. The missile danger to the capital was officially announced at 01:09, while the drone threat remained in effect across Kyiv and several other oblasts.

Throughout the next hour, repeated explosions were heard across the city. Journalists on the ground reported continued detonations as air-raid sirens sounded and residents sought shelter. Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko described the timing of the assault as deliberate, saying Russian forces “chose a freezing February night” to launch the attack, with temperatures expected to drop to minus 24 degrees Celsius by morning.

Damage was confirmed in five districts of Kyiv: Darnytskyi, Desnianskyi, Dniprovskyi, Pecherskyi, and Shevchenkivskyi. In the Darnytskyi district, strikes hit non-residential buildings, sparking fires and damaging a 25-storey residential building at one location and a five-storey building at another. One person was injured there and received medical treatment on the spot.

In the Dniprovskyi district, debris from Russian weapons was found in open areas at two separate locations. A kindergarten was damaged and caught fire, while a nearby five-storey residential building also sustained damage. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed both the fire at the kindergarten and damage to non-residential structures in the Darnytskyi district. Medics were dispatched to the Dniprovskyi and Desnianskyi districts as reports of injuries emerged.

The Desnianskyi district recorded damage to a non-residential building, while in the Shevchenkivskyi district, early reports indicated that a 22-storey residential building had been struck. In the Pecherskyi district, a petrol station was damaged, along with parked cars and power lines, and a fire broke out at the site.

By early morning, officials confirmed that the number of injured in Kyiv had risen to three. The full scale of destruction was still being assessed, as emergency services continued to work at multiple locations across the city.

The assault on Kyiv was part of a broader overnight attack across Ukraine. Russia launched dozens of missiles and hundreds of drones at targets far from the front line, signaling the end of a temporary energy ceasefire that Moscow had said would last only until 1 February. The renewed strikes came just days after US President Donald Trump said he had personally asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to avoid attacking the Ukrainian capital.

Explosions were again heard in Kyiv around 03:30, and by approximately 06:30 Ukraine’s Air Force issued new warnings about incoming cruise and ballistic missiles. Shortly afterward, blasts were reported in Vinnytsia in western Ukraine and in Tripillia in Kyiv Oblast. In response to the scale of the attack, Poland’s Air Force scrambled fighter jets to safeguard its airspace.

Kyiv Oblast was also hit overnight and into the morning of 3 February. According to regional officials, civilian communities, residential buildings, and energy infrastructure were targeted. In the Obukhiv district, a man was injured by glass shards, while two houses and a car were damaged.

Further east and south, Russian strikes were reported in Sumy, Konotop, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Pavlohrad, Zaporizhzhia, and Odesa. In Sumy, two residential buildings were hit, damaging apartments on the seventh and fourth floors, while a large house fire broke out in nearby Konotop.

In Kharkiv, a ballistic missile struck the Slobidskyi neighborhood, injuring two people. Governor Oleh Synehubov said medical teams treated the wounded at the scene. Mayor Ihor Terekhov warned that the attack forced emergency crews to drain the heating system, cutting heat to more than 800 buildings in the city despite temperatures near minus 20 degrees Celsius. He said the decision was unavoidable due to severe damage to critical infrastructure.

Dnipro and the wider Dnipropetrovsk Oblast also came under sustained attack. In the city of Dnipro, strikes damaged an infrastructure facility, two houses, a three-storey residential building, and student accommodation, and caused multiple fires. In the Slobozhanske community, a car caught fire and a house was damaged. Additional fires were reported in the Synelnykove district and the city of Synelnykove, affecting infrastructure facilities, a business, a garage, and vehicles. Russian forces also targeted the Nikopol district with FPV drones and artillery, damaging infrastructure, four houses, three outbuildings, and a garage. No casualties were initially reported in the oblast.

Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelensky had warned that Russian forces were preparing a mass strike, taking advantage of an extreme cold spell that pushed temperatures well below minus 20 degrees Celsius. The overnight barrage confirmed those concerns, leaving widespread damage across multiple regions and underscoring the renewed intensity of Russia’s aerial campaign.