Nearly 4,000 of Kyiv's 12,000 apartment buildings have sustained damage of varying severity since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said, as reported by RBC Ukraine and Novyny LIVE. Almost 1,500 high-rises were hit by shelling this year alone, The Moscow Times noted.
Russian forces attack Kyiv almost twice a week, using drones, ballistic and cruise missiles, the mayor said. Each such attack costs the city budget roughly 500 million hryvnias (about 950 million rubles), though Klitschko did not specify how that figure was calculated.
Constant destruction has left the city short of funds. Authorities must simultaneously repair damaged buildings, construct shelters and prepare a backup heating system for winter. Klitschko said only bomb shelters, which are currently in short supply, can truly protect against missile strikes.
The statement came after a massive attack on Kyiv. Overnight, the upper floors of a nine-story residential building in the Solomianskyi district were destroyed; a school and a children's hospital were also damaged. In the Sviatoshynskyi and Darnytskyi districts, warehouses and an industrial enterprise came under fire. According to the latest figures from city authorities, 15 people were killed and more than 30 injured. August 21 was declared a day of mourning in Kyiv.
The New York Times noted that Russia has begun striking food warehouses, causing Kyiv residents to face food shortages for the first time since the war began. In particular, warehouses of the supermarket chains Varus, Novus, Fora, Eco Market and the ice cream brand Faini Lody were hit.
In the afternoon, for the first time in several months, a critical infrastructure facility in Kyiv was attacked — the CHP-6 combined heat and power plant. Residents of the Desnianskyi and part of the Dniprovskyi districts were warned of possible hot water outages. In the Holosiivskyi district, a drone struck a business center, killing one person and injuring two; rescuers continued search and rescue operations.