Russian attacks are changing life in western Ukrainian cities, disrupting business, schooling and power supply
In autumn 2026, Russian jet-powered drones and strikes have reached western Ukraine, long seen as a relatively safe rear area. Cities face frequent air raid sirens, blackouts and disruption to business, schools and transport.
Cities in western Ukraine, long regarded as a relatively safe rear area during the war, have seen the impact of Russian drone attacks on daily life grow sharply in autumn 2026. The Ukrainian outlet Ukrainska Pravda, working with regional newsrooms, has compiled an overview of how air raid alerts and strikes have changed life in Lutsk, Rivne, Lviv, Khmelnytskyi, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi and Ternopil.
According to the report, jet-powered drones reach the western regions much faster than ordinary Shahed-type drones. Russia launches them in small batches, so in some cities sirens have sounded more than 10 times a day. The source says the drones' signal is boosted by relay devices in Belarus, close to Ukraine's northwestern regions. Over the past two weeks, more than 200 Russian drones have attacked the Rivne region.
Business and power supply
In Lutsk, air raid alerts were declared more than 10 times a day between 15 and 24 October. Fires hit the warehouses of the "Dim Knygy" bookshop and the "Yevrohurt" food depot, where six people were killed. A strike also halted work at the German company Kromberg & Schubert near Lutsk, which made automotive wiring systems for several global brands. In Rivne, the "Ekvator" shopping centre was hit on 16 October and is still closed. Business owners in Chernivtsi name power cuts as their main problem, while entrepreneurs in Ternopil doubt they will get through the winter as costs for generators and backup power rise.
In October, strikes on two substations caused a complete blackout in Lutsk, followed by outage schedules and disruption to the water supply. On 26 October, almost 90% of the Chernivtsi region lost power after debris from a drone fell on an energy facility.
Education, transport and healthcare
Schoolchildren in Lutsk began their autumn break four days early, on 22 October. In Rivne, almost all lyceums and gymnasiums moved to remote learning, while in Lviv, Khmelnytskyi, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi and Ternopil pupils mostly study in person, with breaks to go to shelters. Andriy Zakaliuk of Lviv's city council education department said 93% of the city's schools and kindergartens have their own shelters.
Public transport keeps running during alerts in most cities, but stops in Ivano-Frankivsk. Hospitals in all regional centres are equipped with generators, but in Lviv outpatient clinics stop seeing patients once an alert begins.
