Putin unleashes new fury on Ukraine as report exposes fear hanging over war’s end

close Video Russia launches massive attack near Kyiv Smoke rises from a warehouse near Kyiv as firefighters battle a blaze following a Russian attack on Aug. 29, according to video released by Ukraine’s State Emergency Service. (Credit: Reuters .) NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Hören Sie sich diesen Artikel an 5 Min Questions over whether the Russia-Ukraine-war" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="1200" data-entity-type="event">Russia-Ukraine war is entering a new phase are mounting as Kyiv endures repeated drone attacks and near-constant air raid alerts, including growing waves during daylight hours — an expansion beyond the nighttime barrages that have become grimly familiar to residents of the Ukrainian capital. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia launched nearly 1,500 drones over four days, more than half of them jet-powered, accusing Moscow of attempting to wear down Ukraine and its population. The attacks have repeatedly interrupted Kyiv’s metro system and daily commutes, Reuters reported Aug. 31, as residents are forced to seek shelter during daytime air raid alerts. As Ukrainians seek some semblance of normalcy at the end of the summer and prepare for the start of the school year, the relentless attacks are again sending already exhausted Kyiv residents underground. Russia UNLEASHES NEARLY 600 MISSILES AND DRONES ON Kyiv IN DEADLIEST STRIKE SINCE MAY People react as they attend the funeral of local villages’ community head Taras Didych, who was among 38 people killed in a Russian drone strike on the village of Myla on August 28, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the village of Dmytrivka, Kyiv region, Ukraine August 31, 2026. (Alina Smutko/Reuters) Russian President Vladimir Putin has simultaneously intensified attacks on Ukraine’s warehouses and logistics network, damaging distribution centers used by major retailers and disrupting food deliveries. Russian drone attacks on Kyiv and the surrounding region stretched into a fifth consecutive day Monday, with strikes damaging warehouses, a retail outlet and residential buildings in the Kyiv region. The attacks are part of a broader campaign against Ukrainian commercial and logistics infrastructure. Reuters reported Aug. 28 that Russia had targeted warehouses belonging to major supermarket chains, Ukraine’s largest private postal company and home-goods retailers. Ukraine’s Agriculture Minister Taras Vysotskyi said that roughly 90% of the food logistics infrastructure operated by retail chains had been destroyed. Russia LAUNCHES BALLISTIC MISSILE ATTACK ON Kyiv HOURS AFTER ZELENSKYY WARNS OF MAJOR STRIKE Smoke rises in the city during a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine August 31, 2026. (Gleb Garanich/Reuters) "As of today, roughly speaking, 90% of food logistics operated by retail chains have been destroyed, but that doesn't mean Ukrainians will be left without food," Vysotskyi told reporters in Kyiv, according to Ukrainian state news agency Ukrinform. He said retailers would shift logistics and use alternative methods of delivering food. Ukrainian outlet TSN reported Aug. 30 that some NOVUS locations in Kyiv were short of bread, potatoes, apples and oatmeal, while supermarket chain ATB had introduced limits on how much of certain products customers could purchase. Ukraine, meanwhile, has expanded its own campaign against Russian economic infrastructure. Ukrainian drones have targeted oil facilities as well as warehouses connected to major Russian online retailers, including Wildberries and Ozon. Reuters reported Monday that a logistics hub in Yekaterinburg was also struck by a drone. Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Richard Newton, a former USAF assistant vice chief of staff, told Fox News Digital that he believes the military momentum has increasingly shifted toward Ukraine, particularly because of Kyiv’s expanding use of long-range drones. ZELENSKYY SAYS PUTIN 'LOST THE INITIATIVE' AS Ukraine'S TECH INDUSTRY RESHAPES THE WAR Empty shelves in supermarkets in Kyiv, August 31st, 2026. (East2west news) "My sense is the momentum has swung in Ukraine's favor over the last year or so," Newton told Fox News Digital. "The Ukrainians have shown tremendous resolve and capability to push back against Russia." Newton pointed particularly to Ukrainian strikes deep inside Russia against "energy production capability, logistics supply chains, and so forth," calling their use of drone warfare "quite remarkable." He cautioned, however, that Ukraine faces a critical vulnerability as Russia intensifies its aerial campaign. "The current challenge facing Ukraine is the shortage of U.S.-made Patriot air defense interceptors," Newton said, noting that the systems are also in heavy demand elsewhere around the world. TRUMP SAYS US WILL LET Ukraine MAKE PATRIOT MISSILES IN MAJOR POLICY SHIFT Emergency workers use heavy equipment to clear rubble from apartment buildings in Lviv, the westernmost city in Ukraine and the closest to NATO-ally Poland, after a Russian missile attack Thursday, July 30, 2026. (Anadolu) The escalation comes amid new reporting about Putin’s calculations over how — or whether — the war can end. The Economist reported Aug. 30, that Putin fears ending the war without Russia achieving even what he considers a minimum objective — control of all of Donbas — could threaten his position and potentially his physical safety. "They will hang me," Putin reportedly told people around him at some point during the war, according to an unnamed insider cited by The Economist. Fox News Digital has not independently verified Putin remarks. The Economist also reported that dissatisfaction with the war is growing among ordinary Russians and that the mood among parts of Russia’s elite is even more pessimistic, with one source arguing that nearly five years consumed by the war represents a failure regardless of its eventual outcome. Newton argued that the intensifying confrontation makes NATO cohesion increasingly important. Russian glide bombs strike a food processing plant in Zaporizhzhia. Rescuers work at the site of a reported strike on a food processing plant in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on July 8, 2026. The incident involves guided aerial bombs, resulting in the destruction of part of the facility. A 43-year-old employee is injured, and several vehicles are damaged. (Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images) "In my view it's more important now for NATO to remain firm perhaps at any time since the end of the Cold War," he said. "A weakened NATO emboldens Putin and Russia not only against Ukraine but the entire alliance." Efrat (Effie) Lachter is a reporter for Fox News Digital with more than 15 years of experience covering conflict, global affairs, human rights and political accountability. She has directed and produced more than 200 documentary segments across more than 40 countries, documenting conflicts, humanitarian crises, corruption, human trafficking, gender-based violence and the human stories behind major world events. Lachter’s reporting has taken her into conflict zones and crisis areas across the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Africa. Her work has included uncovering human trafficking networks, revealing an ISIS underground torture prison in Syria, documenting the war in Ukraine and interviewing senior political figures and world leaders. She was also among the Western journalists who entered Russia after the war began to bring testimonies from Putin’s opposition. Lachter is the recipient of the 2022 Peres Center for Peace Award and was a 2023–2024 Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellow at the University of Michigan. She also won two Rockower Awards for Excellence in Reporting. She holds a bachelor's degree in communication and a master's degree in political science.