Russia Mapping Everyday Targets Across Kyiv Including Trolleybus Depots and Airport Ahead of Ballistic Strike

Ukrainian monitoring channel Nikolaievsky Vaniok reported on September 22-23 that Russian aerial reconnaissance has been mapping specific sites across Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast, including traction substations and rail infrastructure, an Auchan hypermarket and other stores in the Obolon district, power substations, a trolleybus depot, and Zhuliany airport 123. In Kyiv Oblast the channel listed substations near Bucha and Irpin, suspected fuel depots near Borodianka and in the Bila Tserkva district, and the airfield at Vasylkiv 14. Andrii Kovalenko, head of the National Security Council's Center for Countering Disinformation, separately stated that Russia is preparing a ballistic strike and that "signs of preparation are present," urging vigilance in the coming days 1. Euromaidan Press reported that Ukraine's air defenses failed to intercept any ballistic missiles in a recent Kyiv water-system attack; the channel's administrator described Ukraine's jet-drone countermeasure effort as proceeding at "its own pace" 1. The reconnaissance reporting could not be independently verified 1.