Russia Strikes Kyiv Book Market in Overnight Missile Barrage

Ukraine’s Air Force reported on August 16 that Russia used 106 drones alongside several types of missiles, with Kyiv, Poltava, and Dnipropetrovsk regions among the main targets.

The attack included Oniks anti-ship missiles, Iskander-M ballistic missiles, S-400 missiles used in a surface-to-surface role, North Korean KN-23 ballistic missiles, and Kh-59/69 guided air-launched missiles. Russia also deployed Shahed-type attack drones, including jet-powered variants, as well as Gerbera and Parodiya decoy drones.

Ukrainian air defenses intercepted or suppressed 88 aerial targets, including three guided missiles and 85 drones, according to the Air Force. Strikes were recorded at 13 locations, while debris from intercepted targets fell at three additional sites.

In Kyiv, the attack caused a major fire at a book market in the city’s Obolonskyi district, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service (SES) reported on August 16.

Several rows of retail stalls were destroyed by fire, while other sections of the market sustained damage to windows and structures. Firefighters extinguished the blaze and continued dismantling damaged structures afterward.

Three people were injured at the market, according to Kyiv SES spokesperson Pavlo Petrov. Fires and damage were also reported at other non-residential properties in the Obolonskyi and Holosiivskyi districts.

In Dnipropetrovsk region, Russian forces carried out more than 20 attacks using drones, artillery, and missiles, according to regional authorities.

Kryvyi Rih was targeted with drones and ballistic missiles, damaging a major industrial facility. Two people were killed, while 13 employees and contractors were injured, according to information released following the strike. Rescue operations continued at the site.

One 48-year-old man was hospitalized in serious condition, while 10 other injured people were admitted in moderate condition.

Elsewhere in Dnipropetrovsk region, fires were reported in the Shyroke and Hrushivka communities. Russian attacks also damaged infrastructure, a business, an apartment building, and a private residence in the Nikopol district, where a 55-year-old man was injured.

Russian forces also targeted the Kremenchuk community in Poltava region during the overnight attack. Authorities were still assessing the consequences as of the morning of August 16.

The overnight strikes followed another Russian drone attack on August 15, when a drone hit agricultural machinery during harvesting in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, killing a 32-year-old farmer and injuring another man. The strike also set fire to a combine harvester, a vehicle, and wheat in the field.

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