Kyiv, Sept. 30 -- The explosions came in waves, thickening the pre-dawn sky over the capital with streaks of light and the dull thud of impacts that people here have learned to count almost by reflex. By Tuesday morning, emergency crews were still pulling glass from storefronts and taping off stairwells, while metro passengers traded clips from phone cameras that caught the shimmer of intercepts over the Dnipro. Officials said at least four people died across Kyiv and nearby districts, with dozens injured, in one of the most sustained combined drone-and-missile barrages since the full-scale invasion began.

For Ukraine's leadership, the attack was a reminder of a pattern that has hardened with the seasons: long-range strikes on cities and...