New daytime attacks from Russia put millions of lives on suspended

In Kiev alone, more than 1,800 air alerts were registered, with a total duration of more than 2200 hours since February 2022

Tim Hryshchuk couldn’t imagine spending his first day at a basement. But when the air strike warning sounded in Kiev on September 2, the 5 -year -old boy and his new colleagues had no alternative but to go to the basement.

This is what happens when you start studying during a war.

Russian air attacks have become larger and more frequent since Moscow increased their drones production earlier this year. But if most of these attacks used to occur at night, more threats have been recorded in recent weeks.

In Kiev alone, more than 1800 air alerts were registered, with a total duration of more than 2,200 hours, since Russia launched its total invasion and not caused from Ukraine in February 2022. In the first two weeks of this month, two alarms of air attacks per day were recorded.

Each of these alerts puts millions of lives on suspended – part of the Russian strategy of terrorizing and exhausting Ukraine’s civilian population.

“These mass attacks send the same message as (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and other Kremlin senior officers have been publicly and repeatedly to indicate in recent months – that Russia is not interested in negotiations or to stop war,” Christina Harward, Russia analyst at the Institute for War Study, said a US -based conflict observatory.

After years of living under this constant threat, Ukrainian schools developed detailed security protocols against air attacks. Guidance on new students now includes information on evacuation routes and shelter locations, as well as usual worldly details on schedules and meal requisition systems in the cafeterias.

Liudmyla Andruk, Deputy Director of Kiev’s Eastern Language Gymnasium 1, where Hryschuk has now started attending the first year, said the school’s 700 students take six minutes to arrive at the shelter.

Like all schools in Ukraine, this one now has a police officer in the building that coordinates the evacuations. “Of course, if we know it is a ballistic missile threat, we are trying to take everyone there as soon as possible,” Andruk explained.

The deputy director explained that while physical safety is a priority, teachers are also responsible for each child’s mental well-being.

“Each child is different, some have allergies, some phobias, others have difficulty sitting in a shelter for hours,” he told CNN. “If the warning lasts hours, we make games, let students talk, tell stories or show videos. Still, they return exhausted and it’s hard to get them to focus when classes start over.”

How everyday life is changing

In recent months, Russia has flooded Ukraine’s skies with drones and missiles with increasing intensity. Earlier this month, he launched over 800 drones and 13 missiles in a single night, the largest number of ever, killing at least 11 civilians across the country.

In recent weeks, day -to -Kiev air attacking alerts are more frequent

In the first four weeks of the year, Kiev residents were under the influence of air strike alarms for an average of 11 hours a week. This number has increased to an average of almost 19 hours a week in the last four weeks, with more occurrences during the day.

Air strike alerts per hour in Kiev, January 1 – September 14, 2025

The Lavina Shopping Center, on the outskirts of Kiev, is the largest shopping center in Ukraine. During the top hours, there are 20,000 people in their more than 450 shops and restaurants and in a large multiplex cinema.

An air strike alarm can cause a great logistics headache. “Most people are now so used to warnings that they don’t move quickly. We have had to increase security staff to guide people and ensure that they follow the evacuation routes,” Dmytro Lashyn, CNN’s CEO, told Dmytro Lashyn.

The movement of so many people often leads to huge traffic traffic jams as people try to achieve safety.

Lashyn told CNN that buying habits also changed because of the war. Instead of looking, people tend to shop with a goal, buying what they need only for an alarm to interrupt your day. Spontaneous and emotional purchases are becoming more common.

“Our inquiries show that people are living one day at a time. Many ask themselves: ‘Why is I to deny me something? Maybe tomorrow is no longer in this world because my house will be destroyed by a missile,'” he said.

Cultural events, movie sessions, concerts and theater shows are also regularly affected. In such a way that film producer Oleksiy Komarovsky told CNN that alarms have created a new way to classify movies.

“If people come back to finish the movie after a long interruption, then the movie is really good,” Komarovsky explained.

Russia has significantly intensified drone attacks against Ukraine

Moscow intensified the use of drones against Ukraine. The biggest attacks since the beginning of the large -scale war have occurred since early June, with Russia launching 810 drones on September 7.

Daily drone releases against Ukraine by Russia, 2025

Volunteers come ahead

The scale of these recent attacks means that Ukraine needs as far as possible help to minimize impacts – and volunteers are playing an increasingly important role in the defensive mixture.

Civilians are forming units in charge of lowering smaller drones with machine guards or, more recently, with interceptor drones specially developed for the purpose.

The Chief of Staff of one of Kiev’s volunteer formation legions, Andriy, whose code name is a stolyar, said his unit is made up of people from all sectors of life – from construction workers to entrepreneurs and poets.

Andriy told CNN that the formation of her legion lasts about six weeks and includes basic knowledge, simulator practice and topography classes. Andriy asked her nickname not to be published for security reasons.

“A person has to know how to operate a plane. Drones are becoming increasingly complex – this is aviation and requires constant attention, knowledge and skills,” he said.

Harward, an ISW ​​analyst, has said that Russia is currently manufacturing about 5,100 long -range attack drones with plans to increase this number to 5,700.

“Russia will be able to keep these great attack packages while maintaining – or increasing – these high production rates,” he said, adding that this depends to a large extent on Moscow’s ability to continue to acquire components to China.

“Russia would not be able to maintain this new higher production pace without these Chinese components,” Harward said.

The US Treasury Department has stated that Chinese companies have been providing so -called double -use technologies to Russia, ie components that can be used for both civil and military purposes, such as chips or telecommunications equipment that Russia cannot obtain in other locations due to western sanctions.

Admiral Samuel Paparo, who currently leads the US Indo-Pacific Command, said in April this year that “China provided 70% of tools and 90% of the old chips that allowed Russia to rebuild its war machine.”

At the new 5 -year -old Tim Hryshchuk school, shelters were converted into makeshift classrooms, so that the time passed under the earth is not wasted. It can be tightened, with students sharing wallets and a portable frame supported by a tube on the wall.

All students are required to have a well -stocked bag with water and snacks, as well as stickers with telephone numbers and other vital information.

This was very useful when Tim’s class had to spend more than three hours in the shelter on their second day.

“I was just sitting, waiting, eating some snacks from my bag and playing games,” he told CNN, admitting that he was bored a little with the wait.