Editor’s note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
Russia launched a wave of drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities overnight on Sept. 3, targeting regions in western and central Ukraine, officials reported.
According to Ukraine’s Air Force, Russian forces launched 502 Shahed-type attack and decoy drones, along with 16 Kalibr and eight Kh-101 cruise missiles overnight.
Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 430 drones and 21 missiles, while the remaining strikes hit 14 locations, and debris from downed projectiles struck 14 additional sites, the Air Force said.
Five people were reported injured in Znamianka, a city in central Kirovohrad Oblast. According to local officials, 28 buildings were also destroyed in the Russian drone attack.
At approximately 5:30 a.m. local time, Kyiv Independent journalists reported hearing explosions in the country’s capital.
Explosions were heard in western Ukraine in the cities of Kalush, Khmelnytskyi, Lutsk, and Rivne. Sounds of Ukrainian air defense fire were also reported between 2 and 2:30 a.m. in Lviv, according to a Kyiv Independent journalist on the ground.
The attack appeared to target Ukraine’s energy grid, striking infrastructure sites in multiple regions.
In Chernihiv Oblast, Governor Viacheslav Chaus said nearly 30,000 households were left without power after Russian forces struck a critical infrastructure facility.
“All necessary services are involved in the repair process,” Chaus wrote on Telegram.
In western Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, a strike ignited a fire at an infrastructure facility, though no casualties were reported.
A Russian strike on Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast sparked a fire, hitting an infrastructure facility on Sept. 3, 2025. (State Emergency Service / Telegram)A Russian strike on Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast sparked a fire, hitting an infrastructure facility on Sept. 3, 2025. (State Emergency Service / Telegram)A Russian strike on Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast sparked a fire, hitting an infrastructure facility on Sept. 3, 2025. (State Emergency Service / Telegram)
Elsewhere in Ukraine, a downed drone in the town of Vyshhorod on the outskirts of Kyiv caused a fire at a residential building, Kyiv Oblast Governor Mykola Kalashnyk reported. No casualties were reported in the attack.
Nearly all of Ukraine’s regions were subject to air raid alerts throughout the night amid the incoming drones, Ukraine’s Air Force reported.
It remains unclear whether Russia targeted any other strategic targets or military infrastructure in the attack, as Ukrainian authorities largely do not disclose such information for security reasons. This makes the full extent of casualties and damage difficult to independently establish.
The attack comes as Russia has once again intensified attacks on Ukrainian cities in recent weeks, despite Moscow demonstrating openness to pursuing peace talks.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Aug. 29 that the death toll of the Aug. 28 Russian attack on Kyiv has risen to 25, following a large-scale attack that involved 598 drones and 31 missiles.
Another large-scale attack on residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia on Aug. 30 killed one person and injured 34 others, officials reported.
As frustration continues to mount with Russia’s non-stop attacks on Ukrainian cities, U.S. President Donald Trump expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of progress on a peace deal on Sept. 3.
“I’m very disappointed in President Putin, I can say that, and we’ll be doing something to help people live,” Trump said in an interview on the Scott Jennings Radio Show.
Despite Trump’s comments, the U.S. president has been reluctant to introduce additional sanctions on Russia and its war machine. Trump’s self-imposed two-week deadline to impose additional economic pressure on Russia, which he announced on Aug. 21, passed on Sept. 2 without new measures being implemented.
As Moscow escalates strikes and rejects talks with Kyiv, Trump says he’s ‘very disappointed’ in Putin
“I’m very disappointed in President Putin, I can say that, and we’ll be doing something to help people live,” Trump said in an interview on the Scott Jennings Radio Show. “It’s not a question of Ukraine. It’s help people live,” he added. “7,000 are dying every single week — soldiers mostly — but 7,000 people. And if I can help to stop that, I think I have an obligation to do that.
