Each Russian attack on Kyiv costs the city budget about $12 million. Russian strikes have already damaged more than four thousand buildings in the capital, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in answer to a Novyny.LIVE journalist.

Russian forces now strike Kyiv with ballistic and cruise missiles or drones on average almost twice a week. The latest massed attack, on the night of 20 August, killed at least 16 people in Kyiv and the region.

The cumulative damage keeps growing

The toll on the city's housing is vast. More than four thousand buildings in Kyiv have been damaged by Russian strikes, Klitschko continued, with each attack adding to a repair bill the city carries alongside the human losses.

New shelters are planned, but old money went unspent

Kyiv plans to expand its shelter network. By the end of 2026, the city intends to install new mobile shelters, placed first in districts and locations that lack other accessible cover, Klitschko stated.

The plan follows a failure that the mayor acknowledged. Last year, Kyiv allocated $12 million for mobile shelters, but the district administrations did not use the money. It was returned to the city budget.

The capital also still lacks enough professional bomb shelters capable of better protecting people during missile strikes, he added. This gap persists as tens of thousands of Kyiv residents shelter in metro stations through the attacks.

The city is building a backup heating system

Meanwhile, Kyiv is preparing for winter under fire. The city has completed more than 50% of planned work to create a backup heating system, with readiness at some sites already reaching 90%, the Kyiv mayor added.

Russia has struck Ukraine's energy and heating infrastructure each winter of the war. A backup system is Kyiv's insurance that a successful strike on one heat source does not leave districts frozen, part of the same preparation for the heating season that Ukraine's government is racing to complete nationally before the cold.

Emergency services in Kyiv have recovered fragments of cluster munitions following the overnight Russian missile and drone attack on June 17, Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported, calling it further evidence of Russia's "genocide" against Ukrainians.

"In the capital's Nyvky neighborhood, emergency workers are now finding these kinds of cluster munition parts," Klitschko said in a statement shared on social media. "Another clear sign of the genocide Russia is committing against Ukrainians."

Cluster munitions are banned under international law by more than 100 countries due to their indiscriminate nature and the long-term threat they pose to civilians, especially when unexploded submunitions remain hidden in residential areas.

While Russia and Ukraine are not signatories to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, international humanitarian organizations have repeatedly condemned the use of such weapons in populated areas. Ukraine uses cluster munitions on the battlefield against Russian forces.

The mayor's comments came hours after one of the largest and deadliest attacks on the Ukrainian capital in months, in which at least 15 people were killed and nearly 100 injured. The Russian strike, which lasted nearly nine hours, included waves of kamikaze drones, ballistic missiles, and what authorities now confirm were banned explosive parts.

President Volodymyr Zelensky called the assault "one of the most horrifying attacks on Kyiv," saying more than 440 drones and 32 missiles were launched across Ukraine overnight.

"Such attacks are pure terrorism," he said in a statement on social media. "And the whole world, the U.S., and Europe must finally respond as civilized societies respond to terrorists."

Zelensky confirmed that damage had been reported in eight districts of Kyiv, with emergency workers still searching for survivors beneath the rubble of a destroyed apartment block.

He added that strikes also hit Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, and Kyiv regions. "Fifteen people are confirmed dead. My condolences to their families and loved ones," Zelensky said.

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha also condemned the attack, calling it a "massive and brutal strike" timed deliberately to coincide with the G7 summit, which is taking place in Canada on June 16-17.

Russian drone strike on Odesa injures 13, including 1 child

Russian drone strikes on Odesa early June 17 injured 13 people, including one child, regional authorities reported.

The Kyiv IndependentLucy Pakhnyuk