What's Happening With the Russia-Ukraine Strikes Right Now
On August 16, Russian attacks on Ukraine hurt six people at a market in the capital city of Kyiv and killed five people across the country. At the same time, Russian officials said that seven people were killed in Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory, according to the BBC.
BBC Ukraine reporter Dan Johnson visited the Kyiv market while firefighters were still putting out small fires. The market, in a part of Kyiv called the Obolonskyi district, sells things like books and posters. Ukraine's emergency service said a large fire broke out there during the attack, and two people were hurt at that spot. Twenty-six firefighters and six fire trucks were sent to control the flames.
This is part of a pattern. Russian strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities have been getting more frequent over the summer of 2026. On July 30, a Russian attack on Kyiv killed one person and injured three. After a night attack on July 21, the city set up a help center for victims in one of its district offices — something Kyiv has learned to do quickly because attacks happen so often.
Some of these attacks have been much larger. On May 24, a big combined Russian attack hurt at least 83 people in Kyiv, according to President Zelensky's office. In another May attack, 78 people were injured and two killed in the city. On the night of August 28, 63 people in Kyiv were affected, including 11 children. Across August 2026, Russian strikes killed 14 and injured 27 in the Kyiv region, according to Reuters. On August 4, a Russian missile strike killed 17 people across Ukraine and injured more than 40, with seven bodies found at a train station in a Kyiv suburb. In July, a Russian attack on the port city of Odesa killed four and injured six.
Markets have been hit again and again. Russian forces shelled a market in the city of Sloviansk on August 11, hurting at least four people. The Obolonskyi market in Kyiv has now been struck at least twice.
People are dying on the Russian side too. Russian officials said a Ukrainian drone strike killed at least 13 people and wounded 39 in Russia, according to Reuters. The same report said seven people were killed in Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory. These numbers come from Russian government sources and cannot be checked independently.
The targeting of markets matters. Markets are places where people gather in the open, with little protection from attacks. The August 16 strike hit a market selling books and posters — things that have nothing to do with the military. This fits a pattern of strikes on civilian places like shops and public spaces that has continued throughout the war. After the August 16 attack, bus routes in Kyiv were changed and part of a metro station was temporarily closed.
The bigger picture is that both sides are reporting civilian deaths, and the back-and-forth strikes through late summer 2026 show no signs of slowing down. Each individual attack may cause a relatively small number of casualties, but together the toll keeps growing on both sides.
