Russian drones hit Kyiv fuel stations as UN warns of Ukraine's toughest wartime winter

Kyiv fuel stations targeted

Russian forces deployed jet-powered drones against petrol stations across Kyiv on 11 September, killing two people and injuring twelve. The morning strikes hit two stations operated by state-owned company Ukrnafta within ten minutes of each other in the Obolonskyi and Dniprovskyi districts. In the northern Pochaina area, the blast damaged a passing vehicle and injured a car wash manager, his wife, and a driver before a second blast hit first responders in a double-tap attack. At a third station in the Desnianskyi district, car wash manager Fedir Lesovin noted that sirens allowed workers to reach shelter. A list of 18 Kyiv petrol stations expected to be targeted had circulated on Telegram two days prior.

There is, and can be, no military objective behind such attacks. This is terror directed at the civilian population, at peaceful people.

Nationwide strikes on civilian hubs

The capital attacks followed a wave of Russian aerial strikes against commercial centres across Ukraine. On 10 September, a daytime drone strike on a shopping mall in Pavlohrad, located in the Dnipropetrovsk region, killed five people and wounded 67. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha declared 11 September an official day of mourning in response to the civilian casualties. Earlier in the week, strikes on shopping centres and residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia and Sumy killed two people and injured 28, while Russian drones hit a border crossing with Moldova, killing two. Ukrainian authorities have advised citizens to avoid petrol stations and commercial hubs during air raid alerts.

Russia is systematically attacking places where it knows people will be spending their time going about their daily lives, seeking to maximise casualties, spread fear and put pressure on Ukrainian society.

Ukrainian drone strikes inside Russia

Ukrainian forces carried out reciprocal long-range drone attacks against Russian energy and logistics infrastructure. Russia's Ministry of Defence reported shooting down 777 Ukrainian drones across 16 regions overnight into 11 September. In the Tula region south of Moscow, drone strikes killed two people and injured three, according to regional governor Dmitry Milyayev, while one person died in Kursk. These strikes followed a seaborne drone operation against Sochi that wounded 28 people, and a drone strike on a refinery 1,800 miles away in Siberia. An assessment by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air reported that Russia imported 172,000 metric tons of fuel in August from South Korea and India following disruptions to domestic refining.

Infrastructure damage and winter outlook

The attacks on Kyiv petrol stations mark an expansion of a campaign that has damaged approximately 300 fuel stations across Ukraine in recent months, primarily in frontline zones. Russian drone strikes have also struck food distribution hubs, leaving grocery shelves empty in parts of Kyiv. Alexander De Croo, head of the United Nations Development Programme, warned that the destruction of energy and fuel networks threatens a severe humanitarian situation as winter approaches. The escalation followed visits by envoys of US President Donald Trump to Moscow and Kyiv for talks with Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky.

This winter is going to be the toughest one since the war.