WarAugust 31, 2026 10:47 pm • 2 min readIllustrative purposes: Ukrainian military members of an air defense rapid response group track down Russian drones while on night duty on March 1, 2024 in Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine. (Zinchenko/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated.Russia continued its attacks on Kyiv for another night as air defenses in Ukraine's capital shot down Russian drones late into Aug. 31, according to Kyiv Independent journalists on the ground.Earlier on Aug. 31, Kyiv faced its fifth day in a row of nonstop Russian jet-powered drone attacks, while Russian strikes in other regions killed at least seven people and injured another 45 over the past day, authorities said.As nightfall began, Ukraine's air defenses were engaged in Kyiv's city center once again, and several Russian drones were downed over the city, reporters said.Fires were recorded throughout the city as Russia's attack on Kyiv continued, Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said at 9:30 p.m. local time.A blaze broke out in the city's Darnytskyi district as a result of a downed drone, in the Solomyanskyi district a wooded area caught fire, and in the Holosiivskyi district drone debris was found at two different locations.A "very loud" explosion then rocked Kyiv's city center at around 10:17 p.m., Kyiv Independent Deputy Chief Editor Toma Istomina said.The Kyiv City Military Administration cleared the air raid alert later at 10:27 p.m. local time after it began hours earlier at 7:46 p.m.In recent days, Kyiv has recorded a record number of air raid alerts as Russia shifts its strategy to launching jet-powered drones in near-hourly attacks rather than its usual massive overnight barrages of ballistic and cruise missiles preceded by waves of drones.On Aug. 28, the capital recorded 13 alerts, the highest number since Russia launched its full-scale invasion against Ukraine.