Kyiv Military Administration reports 140 deaths as shelter shortage forces millions underground

The capital of Ukraine is functioning as a front-line zone.

Russian strikes have intensified across Kyiv, shifting the daily reality for its four million residents.

A shortage of dedicated shelters has pushed many citizens to use the metro system as their primary refuge.

At 10 p.m., commuters begin laying out mattresses on the floors of subway stations.

Small tents appear in the corners of the platforms, and children sleep beside their parents.

Pets rest against the cold walls, often huddled next to strangers.

Halyna, a resident of the Lukyanivka district, described the routine to Deutsche Welle.

"We're alive," she said while holding her five-year-old son, Roman.

"We've been lucky once again."

Her family takes shelter on most evenings, regardless of whether a siren sounds.

The Lukyanivka district has been a repeated target throughout the four years and eight months of the full-scale invasion.

The military administration of Kyiv released data showing 140 people were killed in the capital in the first eight months of 2026, which is nearly the total for all of 2025, which was 172 deaths, and if the current pace continues, 2026 will be the deadliest year for the city since the war began in 2022, and the strikes have claimed young lives, including 14-year-old Daniel Umanskyj, who was killed in September when a drone hit an apartment building in the Pechersk district, and Vlad, a neighbor who was in the hallway with his daughter at the time, said the delay that day saved their lives, and he described the attackers as "sick monsters" who do not care who they kill, and flowers now stand in front of the damaged building in Daniel's memory, and a drone struck a school building in southwestern Kyiv in early October, though pupils and teachers were already in shelters, and Principal Valentyna Chorna said the school continues to teach in person because its large shelter can hold more than 500 students, and lessons proceed based on shelter availability and the duration of sirens, and a colleague at Deutsche Welle's Kyiv bureau described the strain on parents who must work while their children stay home alone, and a Russian drone struck her building in September, but the apartment was undamaged and her daughter was at school, and strikes on warehouses have caused supermarket shortages not seen since the early months of the war, and emergency power outages returned at the end of September, and a Russian attack paralyzed the subway, and the city faces uncertainty regarding heat, electricity, and water for the winter, and the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology reported in early October that 72% of residents said in September they were ready to endure the war as long as necessary, and authorities have shortened the curfew to run from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m., and some facilities may operate during yellow alerts, and people must take shelter immediately during red alerts, which signal ballistic or cruise missiles or large combined attacks.