Kyiv's iconic market catches fire after Russian drone attack — Here's what it looks like now
Photo: Kyiv's Shaiba market burned down in the attack (RBC-Ukraine)
Russian forces launched a massive drone attack on Kyiv on Wednesday, September 23. The former Zaliznychnyi Market near the Central Railway Station, known as Shaiba (Puck), was hit.
An RBC-Ukraine correspondent visited the scene and shows what the market, known to Kyiv residents as Shaiba, looks like now.
What happened to the market
As a result of the Russian attack, the building of the former Zaliznychnyi Market in Kyiv's Solomianskyi district was destroyed. After the fire, only a burned-out shell of the building was left.
The Zaliznychnyi Market, also known as the Shaiba market, is considered a landmark of 20th-century Kyiv modernism. It was built in 1973 based on a design by modernist architects Alla Anishchenko and Natalia Chmutina.
The market got its nickname Shaiba (Puck) because of the building's distinctive round shape, resembling a hockey puck.
Kyiv's iconic market catches fire after Russian drone attack pic.twitter.com/CcfvGKxHub
— RBC-Ukraine (@NewsUkraineRBC) September 23, 2026
History of Shaiba market and interesting facts
The building originally operated as a covered shopping complex called the Zaliznychnyi Market, also known as the Railway Collective Farm Market.
Photo: The market after a Russian drone strike (RBC-Ukraine)
In the late 1980s, it housed an Okean (Ocean) fish store. In the 1990s, the building was occupied by the Kyiv Universal Exchange, and in the 2000s, it was converted into a Velyka Kyshenia supermarket, which closed down in 2021.
Photo: The market after a Russian drone strike (RBC-Ukraine)
That same year, the Kyiv City Council approved the demolition of the market and allocated the land plot for the construction of the Zaliznychnyi multifunctional complex.
Local activists had repeatedly advocated for granting the building heritage status, as plans were in place to demolish it.
In 2022, the market building was also used as a filming location for the music video of the song "Stefania" by Kalush Orchestra, with which Ukraine won the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest.
Attack on Kyiv on September 23
Two people were killed in Kyiv's Darnytskyi and Solomianskyi districts as a result of enemy drone strikes and falling debris.
So far, 36 people are known to have been injured in the attacks on the capital.
In addition to the former market building, Russia used drones in the morning and afternoon to attack gas stations, a business center, an office building, a pharmaceutical company facility and buildings near the railway station. Fires broke out at the sites of the strikes.
Photo: Russian forces launched a massive drone attack on Kyiv (RBC-Ukraine)
The enemy also carried out repeated strikes on the same targets.
