Russian drone strikes on Kyiv kill at least seven, wound dozens, force ArcelorMittal to halt steel production
Russia struck Kyiv with drones and missiles overnight on 25 September and continued striking into the day, killing at least seven people including a 14-year-old boy and injuring dozens across four districts. Residential buildings, business centers, an administrative building and a supermarket were damaged. Ukrainian air defense intercepted 267 of 295 Russian drones launched from the evening of 24 September. The same day, ArcelorMittal, Ukraine's largest steel plant, suspended operations after four strikes over five weeks killed five workers.
Key points
- Russia struck Kyiv overnight on 25 September with missiles and drones and continued attacking during the day.
- At least seven people were killed in Kyiv, including a 14-year-old boy in the Pecherskyi district, and dozens were injured; final casualty figures vary by source.
- Damage was recorded in the Solomianskyi, Pecherskyi, Podilskyi and Shevchenkivskyi districts; among the sites hit were residential high-rises, business centers, a McDonald's warehouse and the building of the High Council of Justice.
- Ukrainian air defense reported intercepting 267 of 295 Russian drones launched from the evening of 24 September.
- In the Kyiv region, the Boryspil, Brovary, Obukhiv, Bucha and Fastiv districts were struck; a woodworking enterprise caught fire in Boryspil and a warehouse was damaged in Brovary.
- ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine's largest steel plant, suspended operations after four strikes over five weeks killed five workers; the steel sector had previously accounted for about 15% of Ukrainian exports.
- Traffic on Vadym Hetmana Street in the Solomianskyi district was closed and trolleybus routes 22k, 27, 30 and 42 were diverted.
Why it matters
The strikes killed multiple civilians including a child and wounded dozens across the capital, while damaging critical civilian infrastructure — residences, a supermarket, business centers and the building of the High Council of Justice. They also extended the economic damage that has already pushed Ukraine's largest steel plant, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, to suspend operations after repeated attacks, threatening a sector that once accounted for roughly 15% of Ukrainian exports and putting further pressure on the state budget.
What happened
Russia launched missiles and drones at Kyiv overnight on 25 September and continued striking during the morning and afternoon, with explosions reported around 04:00 and another around 08:00 when a jet drone hit a high-rise residential building in the Pecherskyi district. Damage was recorded across the Solomianskyi, Pecherskyi, Podilskyi and Shevchenkivskyi districts; hits were reported on residential buildings, business centers, an office building on Mykoly Hrinchenka Street, a McDonald's warehouse, and the High Council of Justice building. Mayor Vitaliy Klychko updated casualty figures throughout the day, ending the day at seven dead and 57 injured in the capital, including two children; President Zelenskyy separately reported seven wounded in the Pecherskyi strike. In the Kyiv region, three districts were hit overnight (Boryspil, Brovary, Obukhiv), and the Bucha and Fastiv districts reported damage during the day. Ukrainian air defense said it had intercepted 267 of 295 Russian drones launched from the evening of 24 September. The same day, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih said it could not safely continue operations after four strikes over five weeks had killed five workers and suspended steel production.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Ukrainian outlets such as Ukrinform, Suspilne, RBC Ukraine and hromadske ran district-by-district reporting from the Kyiv City Military Administration, naming the Solomianskyi, Shevchenkivskyi and Pecherskyi districts and the High Council of Justice specifically, and tracking Mayor Klychko's running casualty updates. Coverage centered the civilian toll — including the death of a 14-year-old boy — and quoted Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha's call for accountability, while tying the attacks to the broader economic damage represented by ArcelorMittal's suspension and the steel sector's 15% export share.
How international sources describe it
The international outlet in the source set, Al Jazeera Arabic, ran the attacks together with the ArcelorMittal suspension as a combined lead, foregrounding the economic blow alongside the civilian deaths. The same coverage carried Russia's denial that it deliberately targets civilians and Moscow's accusation that Kyiv struck humanitarian-aid volunteers in Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia, presenting each side's claims side by side rather than treating the Russian assertion as established.
Where reporting differs
Casualty counts vary significantly across sources and across the day. Mayor Klychko's running figures moved from one injured (night), to three injured (morning), to 17, 20, 27, 31 and finally 57 injured by evening, with the death toll ending at seven. Police reported six killed and at least ten injured in the daytime strike on the Solomianskyi office building alone, while Zelenskyy reported four killed and seven wounded in the same strike. In the Pecherskyi district, Klitschko and the Kyiv City Military Administration said the drone hit floors 7–10, the State Emergency Service said floors 9–10, and the National Police said the drone hit floors 10–11 of a 16-storey building. The death of a 14-year-old boy in Pecherskyi and the toll from the night of 24 September (two killed, nine injured) are reported separately from the 25 September strikes in some sources and conflated in others.
Background
Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians since the start of its full-scale invasion in February 2022, and the Russian Defense Ministry has said its overnight drone strikes were aimed at Ukrainian defense industry facilities, logistics centers and military ships. Russia has intensified its use of ballistic missiles and drones against Ukrainian population and economic centers in recent months, damaging businesses, logistics networks and Black Sea port facilities. Ukraine, in turn, has intensified attacks on Russian territory, targeting defense and energy facilities and online retail companies; Ukrainian officials say the strikes on Ukraine are reducing tax revenues and widening the government budget gap.