The Russia drone attack on Ukraine took an unusual and frightening shape this week: first came hours of relentless daytime drone strikes, then, as darkness fell, a wave of ballistic missiles slammed into Kyiv. Business Insider reporters experienced the assault firsthand from inside a city bomb shelter — and the night offered a stark look at how Russia’s tactics are evolving.

A Day That Began With Drones

The bombardment didn’t follow the usual pattern. Instead of striking under cover of darkness, Russia launched hundreds of drones across Ukraine in broad daylight on Wednesday.

According to Kyiv’s air force, between 8 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. local time, Russia sent more than 750 attack and decoy drones in continuous waves across the country. The rare daytime barrage came right after the end of a three-day ceasefire.

It was, in many ways, just the opening act.

Then Came the Missiles

Hours later, the threat escalated sharply. As night set in, Russia launched more than 20 ballistic missiles at Kyiv, turning a long day of drone strikes into an unrelenting overnight bombardment.

In total, the overnight assault included 675 drones and 56 cruise and ballistic missiles. Ukrainian air defenses fought back fiercely, but some munitions still broke through — reducing entire buildings to rubble. As Ukraine’s air force put it Thursday morning, the main focus of the attack was Kyiv itself.

Riding Out the Night Underground

In the early hours of the morning, Business Insider reporters sheltered alongside dozens of others in a chilly, tightly packed car park that had been converted into a bomb shelter.

The scene inside captured the strange routine that war has forced on ordinary life:

• In the dim light, some people slept in their cars.
• Others claimed one of eight beds, or settled onto couches, tables, and chairs.
• People listened to music, watched shows on their devices, talked quietly, or scrolled their phones for updates.

All the while, the city shook above them. Around 1 a.m., residents received reports of ballistic missile launches and rushed to shelters. Explosions then rocked Kyiv, jolting everyone huddled in the converted car park.

A Bombardment Ukraine Saw Coming

This attack wasn’t entirely a surprise. Ukraine had predicted a heavy bombardment, and warnings went out ahead of time.

Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence agency had said Russia was launching a large-scale air attack aimed at critical infrastructure and civilian targets, cautioning that it could become a “prolonged” assault. The GUR warned that Russia planned to deploy a large number of air- and sea-based cruise missiles alongside ballistic missiles, targeting energy facilities, defense industry sites, and government buildings in major cities.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the onslaught as one of the longest massive Russian attacks against the country. Officials said at least six people were killed and dozens more injured on Wednesday.

Signs of War on the Road

The danger was visible well before the missiles fell. Business Insider was traveling north of Kyiv around midday when iPhone navigation abruptly stopped working — a possible sign of electronic warfare activity in the area.

With Russian drones flying nearby, that kind of disruption made sense. Ukraine frequently uses GPS interference in an effort to defeat incoming drones.

With a Mobile Air Defense Unit

In the evening, Business Insider linked up with a Ukrainian mobile air defense unit operating outside Kyiv. The soldiers had been battling Russia’s Shahed-style attack drones.

The unit’s commander said his team — operating a .50-caliber machine gun — had shot down one of the Russian drones. By that point in the day, Ukrainian forces had intercepted more than 700 drones across the country.

The commander offered a clear read on Russia’s strategy: he believed the goal was to exhaust Ukraine’s air defenses with drones before switching to missiles. The sequence of events that followed seemed to bear that theory out.

How the Defense Held Up

By the end of the assault, Ukraine’s air force said it had intercepted 693 of the 731 Russian missiles and drones launched. Even so, nearly 40 munitions made it through to their targets.

Local Telegram channels published footage said to show a Russian drone striking a multi-story building in Kyiv, along with other scenes of damage across the city. Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said residential buildings and civilian infrastructure in several districts had been damaged in the shelling.

An Emerging Russian Tactic

What makes this attack especially significant is the pattern it represents. Daytime strikes followed by an overnight barrage are an emerging approach for Russia’s forces.

Earlier this month, the Institute for Science and International Security, a US-based think tank, described the recent “emergence of continuous combined night-day strike cycles” as a significant operational development for Russia. In other words, the exhausting, around-the-clock rhythm that reporters experienced from inside the shelter may be a sign of things to come.

The Bottom Line

This Russia drone attack on Ukraine was not just notable for its scale, but for its structure — a deliberate, daylong drone campaign designed to wear down defenses, followed by a punishing missile strike after dark. For the people of Kyiv, it meant another night spent underground, waiting out explosions in a converted car park. And as Russia appears to refine this combined day-and-night strategy, those nights may become harder to predict and harder to endure.