For much of the war, Russian drone and missile attacks on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv followed a particular rhythm; they almost always came at night.
The warnings would begin on monitoring channels on Telegram in the late evening. They announced drones moving south, missiles being launched, air defences working.
Ukrainian civilians judged whether it was prudent to stay indoors or make for shelter in the metro based on the severity of the threat.
Now, Russia has changed tactics with the use of fast-flying, jet-powered drones and the expectation that daylight brings a return to normal life has been shattered.
Since last week, attacks have come day and night, compounding the terror of overnight strikes with the exhaustion of constant daytime disruption.
In Kyiv, the recurring wail of air-raid sirens has become part of daily life. It has interrupted commutes, shopping trips and children’s schools, intruded on life’s biggest moments, from weddings to funerals, and, as these attacks always have, taken lives.
The relentless alerts are exhausting residents, leaving some wondering how long they can stay.
Part of daily life
An alert sounds. People look at their phones or up at the sky. Moments later, in the distance, the familiar sounds of air defences intercepting drones resound.
Plumes of smoke can often be seen rising in the distance. Photos quickly spread across Telegram channels, showing where the destruction has occurred.
An hour or two later, another siren echoes.
In malls, banks and other businesses, air-raid protocols require customers and staff to leave when an alert sounds. A bank transaction can be interrupted mid-conversation; a shopping trip can become a cycle of entering a store, evacuating, returning and evacuating again.
Getting the shopping done has become a nightmare for Volodymyr Bovsunovskyi, who recounts a recent family trip to a mall to buy clothes for his nearly 4-year-old daughter.
They had been inside for about 20 minutes when the alert sounded. They rushed out and saw smoke rising nearby. They never got to purchase the clothes.
“A lot has changed in the last seven days,” he said. Like many residents, he hopes the attacks will relent. But, they have not yet, as Ukraine struggles to find an effective way to counter them.
Train journeys that would normally take a few hours have stretched much longer. In some cases, passengers have found themselves walking for hours through grassy fields after trains stopped on the tracks, carrying their belongings while one air-raid alert followed another.
The same uncertainty extends to getting around the city.
When GPS signals are disrupted to jam drones, using a taxi app becomes a difficult process. A car that appears to be nearby can suddenly appear to be on the other side of the world.
A pickup that seemed imminent suddenly shows an arrival time of thousands of minutes.
Considering leaving
Ivan Datsiv, an IT worker, was in his apartment in Kyiv’s Podil district when a Russian drone tore through the floor on Tuesday, charring the ceilings and walls and completely destroying the flat next door.
Datsiv tries to joke about it, saying he had been meaning to repaint the walls anyway.
The alerts have become so frequent that he no longer sees the point of repeatedly going to a shelter. At this rate, he said, the only alternative would be to live in the basement.
“The alarms sound constantly,” he said. “You don’t even have time to go down and come back up. It’s just a waste of time running back and forth.”
He is thinking of leaving Kyiv. “I’m thinking of living in another city, somewhere quiet and without this danger,” he said.
From the blown-out apartment next door, the view looks down onto a playground and basketball court where children are still playing.
Then a siren sounds again. Minutes later, the white zigzagging trail of an intercepted drone can be seen against the sky.
Bovsunovskyi is also considering leaving the city for a while, hoping to give his family, including his pregnant wife, a chance to rest.
The kindergarten his daughter attends must move the children to a shelter whenever an air-raid alert sounds. The alerts have become so frequent that he now simply picks her up halfway through the day.
“There is no stability,” he said.
Ending the war
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday night he hoped to host US President Donald Trump’s envoys in Kyiv in the coming days to resume efforts to end the war.
Diplomatic push to end Russia’s four-and-a-half-year invasion has stalled in recent months as the United States has shifted its focus towards the war with Iran.
“We expect to see the envoys of the President of America here in Kyiv. We have confirmation from them,” Zelensky said in his nightly address.
“They will have meetings in Moscow and in Kyiv. We are counting on a meeting in the coming days,” he added.
Trump’s special envoys, Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, have been involved in shuttle diplomacy between Russia and Ukraine, travelling to Moscow multiple times.
They have never been to Kyiv.
Zelenskyy said that “tentative dates have been set” for the envoys’ first visit to the Ukrainian capital, which has endured intensified Russian drone and missile attacks over the past week.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has turned into Europe’s worst conflict since World War II, killing thousands of civilians and hundreds of thousands of troops.