At least seven people were killed when a Russian ballistic missile tore through a railway depot in Kyiv in the early hours of Tuesday, September 1, Ukrainian authorities confirmed. The strike came just before sunrise, targeting infrastructure that is critical to both civilian life and military supply lines. Rescue workers from the State Emergency Service were still pulling through rubble in the Chernihiv region hours after the attack. The assault is the sixth consecutive day on which Russia has targeted Ukraine's capital — a rhythm of bombardment that has few modern parallels in European history.

Officials in Kyiv said the missiles appeared to be aimed at energy facilities and railway junctions, suggesting a deliberate strategy to disrupt the logistics that keep Ukrainian defences supplied as autumn approaches. Power outages were reported across several districts in the hours following the strikes. Ukraine's air-defence networks, which have intercepted hundreds of missiles and drones in previous waves, were active throughout the night, though officials did not immediately confirm how many projectiles had been shot down. Western governments, from Washington to Warsaw, have spent months debating whether to supply Kyiv with longer-range systems capable of striking the launch sites used in attacks like Tuesday's.

What makes this wave of strikes particularly alarming is its timing: September historically marks the start of Ukraine's most vulnerable energy season, when heating demand rises and every substation becomes a strategic target.