Ukraine's capital buzzes during the day but it's a battleground at night

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — By day, the Ukrainian capital hums with life — crowded metros, dog walkers and children on playgrounds. By night, Kyiv becomes a battleground as Russia unleashes relentless drone and missile attacks that chase much of the population underground for safety.

The nighttime assaults have intensified in the fourth year of the full-scale invasion, with the number of drones sometimes exceeding 700. Swarms of 1,000 drones could soon become the norm, officials say.

Many people in Kyiv describe the recent attacks as the most terrifying of the war, and even residents who previously ignored sirens have been driven into bomb shelters in the subway system.

“During the day, you walk around, drink coffee, smile, meet friends, talk, have hobbies, chill,” said 25-year-old Karyna Holf. “But at night, you brace for death every time you hear the sound of a Shahed drone or a missile.”

A Russian attack on Thursday badly damaged her apartment. She was in the living room near a window when she heard the whistling sound of an incoming weapon. Moments later, the home shattered into pieces. She was lucky to survive.

The constant proximity to death often fuels dark humor. At night, many are paralyzed by fear. But by day, they joke that they don’t sleep naked, just in case they end up under rubble and rescuers have to pull them out.

“It’s like a computer game where you try to survive and still remain functional,” said 35-year-old Danylo Kuzemskyi, describing the balance between daily life and war.

The buzzing of drones — often ending in explosions — and the constant thud of air defenses can last for hours. The noise leaves many people chronically exhausted from lack of sleep.

The drones blanket wide areas of the city, covered in darkness pierced only by the flashes of air defense fire. The air is filled with smoke and the smell of gunpowder.

Since the beginning of the year, more than 800 sites in Kyiv have been hit, including over 600 residential buildings, said the head of the Kyiv city administration, Tymur Tkachenko.

“They are deliberately hitting apartment buildings and urban districts,” he said. “This is their tactic — to spread fear and increase the number of civilian casualties.”

Russia insists that it strikes only military targets, though there are abundant examples throughout the war of civilian infrastructure being hit.

The attacks have also strengthened the solidarity among Kyiv residents. On social media, people post with pride that they can still grab a cappuccino in the morning, make it to a workout or keep their appointments — without canceling a thing.

“I understand that Russia’s terror is aimed not only at military targets but at the entire Ukrainian people. Russia is trying to demoralize us,” said Kuzemskyi, whose apartment was destroyed in a previous attack. “Is it succeeding? In my case, I’d say no.”

He is among those who no longer go to shelters during attacks, saying he now “prioritizes sleep” over safety.

For 23-year-old Oleksandra Umanets, who has a 10-month-old son, the shelter in the subway feels safer than her home at night.

Around 5 a.m., she usually leaves the shelter with her child, walks home, lies down to sleep and wakes up relieved to see her baby smiling.

“I see the same kids running, playing — and moms who are smiling,” she said of their walks during the day. “You wouldn’t guess they spent the night in the metro or didn’t sleep at all, even though everyone knows it. But no one talks about it. Everyone just keeps living.”

Then evening comes. She packs a bag, places it by the door, prepares the stroller and lays out clothes for herself and her baby. When the siren sounds again, she’s ready to hide.

“When it’s about you — that’s one thing. But when it’s about your child, for what?” she said. “To kill him just for being born in Ukraine? He didn’t choose where to be born.”

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

People sleep on the platform of a metro station as they take cover during a Russian attack on Kyiv, Ukraine, on Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

People rest on a bench in central Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

People shop at a street market near a building which was damaged by a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Local residents stand outside of their house which was heavily damaged by a Russian strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

A family sleep on the platform of a metro station as they take cover during a Russian attack on Kyiv, Ukraine, on Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

NEW YORK (AP) — Reviving a campaign pledge, President Donald Trump wants a one-year, 10% cap on credit card interest rates, a move that could save Americans tens of billions of dollars but drew immediate opposition from an industry that has been in his corner.

Trump was not clear in his social media post Friday night whether a cap might take effect through executive action or legislation, though one Republican senator said he had spoken with the president and would work on a bill with his “full support.” Trump said he hoped it would be in place Jan. 20, one year after he took office.

Strong opposition is certain from Wall Street in addition to the credit card companies, which donated heavily to his 2024 campaign and have supported Trump's second-term agenda. Banks are making the argument that such a plan would most hurt poor people, at a time of economic concern, by curtailing or eliminating credit lines, driving them to high-cost alternatives like payday loans or pawnshops.

“We will no longer let the American Public be ripped off by Credit Card Companies that are charging Interest Rates of 20 to 30%,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Researchers who studied Trump’s campaign pledge after it was first announced found that Americans would save roughly $100 billion in interest a year if credit card rates were capped at 10%. The same researchers found that while the credit card industry would take a major hit, it would still be profitable, although credit card rewards and other perks might be scaled back.

About 195 million people in the United States had credit cards in 2024 and were assessed $160 billion in interest charges, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says. Americans are now carrying more credit card debt than ever, to the tune of about $1.23 trillion, according to figures from the New York Federal Reserve for the third quarter last year.

Further, Americans are paying, on average, between 19.65% and 21.5% in interest on credit cards according to the Federal Reserve and other industry tracking sources. That has come down in the past year as the central bank lowered benchmark rates, but is near the highs since federal regulators started tracking credit card rates in the mid-1990s. That’s significantly higher than a decade ago, when the average credit card interest rate was roughly 12%.

The Republican administration has proved particularly friendly until now to the credit card industry.

Capital One got little resistance from the White House when it finalized its purchase and merger with Discover Financial in early 2025, a deal that created the nation’s largest credit card company. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is largely tasked with going after credit card companies for alleged wrongdoing, has been largely nonfunctional since Trump took office.

In a joint statement, the banking industry was opposed to Trump's proposal.

“If enacted, this cap would only drive consumers toward less regulated, more costly alternatives," the American Bankers Association and allied groups said.

Bank lobbyists have long argued that lowering interest rates on their credit card products would require the banks to lend less to high-risk borrowers. When Congress enacted a cap on the fee that stores pay large banks when customers use a debit card, banks responded by removing all rewards and perks from those cards. Debit card rewards only recently have trickled back into consumers' hands. For example, United Airlines now has a debit card that gives miles with purchases.

The U.S. already places interest rate caps on some financial products and for some demographics. The Military Lending Act makes it illegal to charge active-duty service members more than 36% for any financial product. The national regulator for credit unions has capped interest rates on credit union credit cards at 18%.

Credit card companies earn three streams of revenue from their products: fees charged to merchants, fees charged to customers and the interest charged on balances. The argument from some researchers and left-leaning policymakers is that the banks earn enough revenue from merchants to keep them profitable if interest rates were capped.

"A 10% credit card interest cap would save Americans $100 billion a year without causing massive account closures, as banks claim. That’s because the few large banks that dominate the credit card market are making absolutely massive profits on customers at all income levels," said Brian Shearer, director of competition and regulatory policy at the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator, who wrote the research on the industry's impact of Trump's proposal last year.

There are some historic examples that interest rate caps do cut off the less creditworthy to financial products because banks are not able to price risk correctly. Arkansas has a strictly enforced interest rate cap of 17% and evidence points to the poor and less creditworthy being cut out of consumer credit markets in the state. Shearer's research showed that an interest rate cap of 10% would likely result in banks lending less to those with credit scores below 600.

The White House did not respond to questions about how the president seeks to cap the rate or whether he has spoken with credit card companies about the idea.

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., who said he talked with Trump on Friday night, said the effort is meant to “lower costs for American families and to reign in greedy credit card companies who have been ripping off hardworking Americans for too long."

Legislation in both the House and the Senate would do what Trump is seeking.

Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., released a plan in February that would immediately cap interest rates at 10% for five years, hoping to use Trump’s campaign promise to build momentum for their measure.

Hours before Trump's post, Sanders said that the president, rather than working to cap interest rates, had taken steps to deregulate big banks that allowed them to charge much higher credit card fees.

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., have proposed similar legislation. Ocasio-Cortez is a frequent political target of Trump, while Luna is a close ally of the president.

Seung Min Kim reported from West Palm Beach, Fla.

President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport, Friday, Jan. 9, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

FILE - Visa and Mastercard credit cards are shown in Buffalo Grove, Ill., Feb. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)