Sleepless in Kyiv: how Ukraine's capital copes with Russia's nighttime attacks

Daria Slavytska, 27, takes shelter inside a metro station with her 2-year-old son Emil during a Russian missile and drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine July 9, 2025. REUTERS/Alina Smutko

KYIV (Reuters) -Several nights a week, Daria Slavytska packs a yoga mat, blankets and food into a stroller and descends with her two-year-old Emil into the Kyiv subway. While air raid sirens wail above, the 27-year-old tries to snatch a few hours' sleep safely below ground.

For the past two months, Russia has unleashed nighttime drone and missile assaults on Kyiv in a summer offensive that is straining the city's air defences, and has its 3.7 million residents exhausted and on edge.