Russia hits Ukraine with massive drone, missile barrage amid prisoner exchange
How did your country report this? Share your view in the comments.
Diverging Reports Breakdown
Massive Russian aerial attack on Kyiv kills at least 12 as prisoner swap concludes
Ukraine was hit with 367 drones and missiles, making it the largest single attack of the more than three-years-long war. Russia used 69 missiles of various types and 298 drones, including Iranian-designed Shahed drones. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the United States, which has taken a softer public line on Russia since President Donald Trump took office, to speak out against the attack and ramp up sanctions on Russia. The attack also preceded the third and final day of a planned prisoner swap with Ukraine, which saw the two countries complete the exchange of 1000 prisoners each in a rare example of cooperation that emerged from otherwise fruitless peace talks earlier this month. Three children aged 8, 12 and 17 were killed in the region of Zhytomyr, west of Kyiv, according to emergency services, while at least four people died in Khmelnytskyi and a man died in Mykolaiv. For Kyiv Day, a national holiday commemorating the city’s founding that falls on the last Sunday of May, the city observed a sombre morning.
Ukraine was hit with 367 drones and missiles, making it the largest single attack of the more than three-years-long war, according to Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat.
In all, Russia used 69 missiles of various types and 298 drones, including Iranian-designed Shahed drones, Colonel Ihnat told the Associated Press.
There was no immediate comment from Moscow, however Russia’s defence ministry said its air defences shot down 110 Ukrainian drones overnight.
A number of houses across the Kyiv region were destroyed in Russian strikes overnight. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the United States, which has taken a softer public line on Russia and its leader Vladimir Putin since President Donald Trump took office, to speak out against the attack and ramp up sanctions on Russia.
“The silence of America, the silence of others in the world, only encourages Putin,” he wrote on Telegram.
“Every such terrorist Russian strike is reason enough for new sanctions against Russia.”
The village of Markhalivka, in Ukraine’s Kyiv region, was also hit heavily. (Reuters: Thomas Peter)
Mr Zelenskyy also wrote on X that more than 30 cities and villages across Ukraine had been targeted overnight, including Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Chernihiv, Sumy, Odesa, Poltava, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv and Cherkasy regions.
“These were deliberate strikes on ordinary cities. Ordinary residential buildings were destroyed and damaged,” he said.
” Determination matters now — the determination of the United States, of European countries, and of all those around the world who seek peace. ”
For Kyiv, the morning following the attack was particularly sombre as the city observed Kyiv Day, a national holiday commemorating the city’s founding that falls on the last Sunday of May.
The attack also preceded the third and final day of a planned prisoner swap with Ukraine, which saw the two countries complete the exchange of 1000 prisoners each in a rare example of cooperation that emerged from otherwise fruitless peace talks earlier this month.
Strikes kill three children in Zhytomyr
The sound of explosions boomed throughout the night in Kyiv and the surrounding area as Ukrainian air defence forces persisted for hours in their efforts to shoot down enemy drones and missiles.
Fires broke out in homes and businesses, set off by falling drone debris, and at least four people were killed in the capital itself, according to Ukraine’s security service.
In the region of Zhytomyr, west of Kyiv, three children aged 8, 12 and 17 were killed, according to emergency services, while at least four people were killed in Khmelnytskyi and a man died in Mykolaiv, in southern Ukraine.
A woman cries while standing on the rubble of her house in Khmelnytski. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said a student dormitory in Holosiivskyi district was hit by a drone and one of the building’s walls was on fire.
In the village of Markhalivka, just outside Kyiv, the Fedorenkos watched their ruined home in tears.
“The street looks like Bakhmut, like Mariupol, it’s just terrible,” said 76-year-old Liubov Fedorenko, comparing their village to some of Ukraine’s most devastated cities in the war.
Russia launches ‘massive’ aerial attack on Kyiv amid prisoner swap Photo shows Russia Ukraine missile Saturday night’s attack on Kyiv followed a similar barrage on Friday evening, although the first assault was smaller and less deadly.
She told an Associated Press reporter she was grateful her daughter had not visited the village for the weekend.
“I was trying to persuade my daughter to come to us,” she said.
“After all, you live on the eighth floor in Kyiv, and here it’s the ground floor,” she said she had told her daughter.
“She said, ‘No, Mum, I’m not coming.’ And thank God she didn’t come, because the rocket hit [the house] on the side where the children’s rooms were.”
Ivan Fedorenko, 80, said he regretted letting the family’s two dogs into the house after the air raid siren went off.
“They burned to death,” he said.
“I want to bury them, but I’m not allowed yet.”
Despite POW swaps, no let-up in fighting
Russia and Ukraine each brought home 303 prisoners on Sunday, following an exchange of 307 on Saturday and 390 on Friday — concluding this round of swaps with each side having brought home 1000 soldiers and civilians.
The swap amounted to the largest exchange of prisoners in more than three years of war.
Despite its successful execution, the POW exchange did not herald a halt in fighting on the ground, either.
Battles have continued along the roughly 1,000-kilometre front line, where tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed, and neither country has relented in its artillery strikes on enemy positions.
Russia’s defence ministry also reported on Sunday that its troops had taken control of the village of Romanivka, in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, although wires agencies could not independently confirm the report.
AP/Reuters
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy denounces U.S. silence after massive Russian drone-and-missile attacks
“I can’t be the first person in the world to test the state’s state or nation to see the state of the “virus” of a “can’d” or “the state” that is more than the state or the nation’“the” can be the state, the nation, or the state in the state that is the ‘““The’ can be seen as a state or a nation,” not a nation or a state, but a nation that is not a state is a state that has a more than one thing that can be said to be more than “one thing’ or less than a nation.” “I’m not going to say this is the first or the last, but it is a way of showing how the state and the nation would feel the state is not the same as the state. “This is the way that the state would feel this state, not the nation or the country that is this state or this state.“This state is more like a state than the nation that has one thing in the way of
Russian forces launched a massive overnight barrage Saturday as 367 drones and missiles targeted more than 30 cities and villages across Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv. At least 12 people were killed, according to officials, including three children in the northern region of Zhytomyr.
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters try to put out a fire following a Russian attack in Kyiv region, Ukraine, on Sunday. AP
“The silence of America, the silence of others in the world only encourages Putin,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram. “Every such terrorist Russian strike is reason enough for new sanctions against Russia.”
President Donald Trump has called for an end to the war, but his administration has taken a softer line on Russia than previous ones, shifting American policy from supporting Ukraine towards accepting some of Russia’s account of the war.
The approach marks a sharp departure from the full-throated support Ukraine enjoyed from Washington under former President Joe Biden.
While Ukraine and its European allies have pushed for a 30-day ceasefire as a step toward ending the three-year war, those efforts suffered a setback last week when Trump declined to impose additional sanctions on Moscow for not agreeing to an immediate pause in fighting.
On Monday, Trump had a two-hour phone call with Putin, during which he appeared to have dropped his earlier insistence on a 30-day truce and suggested that he could walk away entirely from the negotiations to end the war that he once promised to end on “day one” of his second presidential term.
Moving independently of Washington, the European Union and the United Kingdom announced a new round of sanctions last week, targeting Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” — roughly 200 vessels used to transport Russian oil exports globally.
The E.U. said these were the 17th set of Europeans sanctions imposed on Russia since it invaded its neighbor in 2022.
In Washington, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers that the administration would continue to push an existing bill that could impose a 500% tariff on buyers of Russian oil and gas if there was no progress on a peace deal.
But, he added that Trump “believes that right now, you start threatening sanctions, the Russians will stop talking, and there’s value in us being able to talk and drive them to get to the table.”
The massive air raid Saturday follows a drone attack Friday that killed four people, and also coincided with the final day of a large-scale prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia, with each side set to release 1,000 detainees.
Zelenskyy posted on Telegram that the third phase of the “1000-for-1000” exchanged agreement” had been completed, which pictures of returning soldiers draped in Ukrainian flags.
The swap, the latest of dozens of exchanges since the war began and the biggest involving Ukrainian civilians, has not indicated an end to widespread fighting. Battles have continued along the roughly 620-mile front line, killing tens of thousands of soldiers.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said last week that Moscow would give Ukraine a draft document outlining its conditions for a “sustainable, long-term, comprehensive” peace agreement, once the ongoing prisoner exchange had finished.
President Trump congratulated both sides after striking the prisoner exchange deal in Istanbul, Turkey.
But after Russia’s largest attack yet, Kyiv remains wary of easing pressure.
“Without pressure, nothing will change and Russia and its allies will only build up forces for such murders in Western countries,” Zelenskyy’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak wrote on Telegram.
“Moscow will fight as long as it has the ability to produce weapons.”
Russia, Ukraine Swap Hundreds in Rare Cooperation Amid Deadliest Air Strikes
Russian drone-and-missile attack targets Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. At least 12 people killed and dozens injured in second night of attacks. Russia used 69 missiles of various types and 298 drones, including Iranian-designed Shahed drones. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian missiles and drones hit more than 30 cities and villages and urged Western partners to ramp up sanctions on Russia. Russia’s Defence Ministry said its air defences shot down 110 Ukrainian drones overnight. The prisoner swap was the only tangible outcome from peace talks in Istanbul earlier this month that have so far failed to produce a ceasefire. It was a rare moment of cooperation between the warring sides and was the largest in more than three years of war. The day was particularly somber as the city observed Kyiv Day, a national holiday that falls on the last Sunday in May, commemorating its founding in the 5th century. The most massive Russian air attack in many weeks lasted all night, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X.
The announcement came hours after a massive Russian drone-and-missile attack targeted the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and other regions in the country for a second consecutive night, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens, officials said early Sunday. The scale of the onslaught was stunning Russia hit Ukraine with 367 drones and missiles, making this the largest single aerial attack of the more than three-years-long war, according to Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Air Force.
In all, Russia used 69 missiles of various types and 298 drones, including Iranian-designed Shahed drones, he told The Associated Press. It was the most massive strike in terms of the number of air attack weapons on the territory of Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in 2022, Ihnat said.
There was no immediate comment from Moscow. For Kyiv, the day was particularly somber as the city observed Kyiv Day, a national holiday that falls on the last Sunday in May, commemorating its founding in the 5th century,
Deliberate strikes on ordinary cities
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian missiles and drones hit more than 30 cities and villages and urged Western partners to ramp up sanctions on Russia. That has been a long-standing demand of the Ukrainian leader but one that despite warnings to Moscow by the United States and Europe have not materialized in ways to deter Russia.
These were deliberate strikes on ordinary cities,” Zelenskyy wrote on X, adding that Sunday’s targets included Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Chernihiv, Sumy, Odesa, Poltava, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv and Cherkasy regions. Without truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped. Sanctions will certainly help, Zelenskyy said. Determination matters now the determination of the United States, of European countries, and of all those around the world who seek peace.
The prisoner swap was the only tangible outcome from peace talks in Istanbul earlier this month that have so far failed to produce a ceasefire and a rare moment of cooperation between the warring sides. Russia’s Defence Ministry said emanwhile that its air defences shot down 110 Ukrainian drones overnight.
The most massive Russian air attack
Sounds of explosions boomed throughout the night in Kyiv and the surrounding area as Ukrainian air defence persisted for hours in efforts to shoot down Russian drones and missiles. At least four people were killed and 16 were injured in the capital itself, according to the security service. A difficult Sunday morning in Ukraine after a sleepless night. The most massive Russian air attack in many weeks lasted all night, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X.
Fires broke out in homes and businesses, set off by falling drone debris. In Zhytomyr region, west of Kyiv, the emergency service said three children were killed, aged 8, 12 and 17. Twelve people were injured in the attacks, it said. At least four people were killed in the Khmelnytskyi region, in western Ukraine. One man was killed in Mykolaiv region, in southern Ukraine.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a student dormitory in Holosiivskyi district was hit by a drone and one of the building’s walls was on fire. In Dniprovskyi district, a private house was destroyed and in Shevchenkivskyi district, windows in a residential building were smashed. The scale of Russia’s use of aerial weapons aside, the attacks over the past 48 hours have been among the most intense strikes on Ukraine since the February 2022 invasion.
A village engulfed in smoke and rubble
In Markhalivka, just outside Kyiv where several village homes were burned down, the Fedorenkos watched their ruined home in tears. The street looks like Bakhmut, like Mariupol, it’s just terrible, says 76-year-old Liubov Fedorenko, comparing their village to some of Ukraine’s most devastated cities. She told the AP she was grateful her daughter and the grandchildren hadn’t joined them for the weekend.
I was trying to persuade my daughter to come to us,” Fedorenko said, adding that she told her daughter, After all, you live on the eighth floor in Kyiv, and here it’s the ground floor.’ “She said, No, mum, I’m not coming.’ And thank God she didn’t come, because the rocket hit (the house) on the side where the children’s rooms were, Fedorenko said.
Ivan Fedorenko, 80, said he regrets letting their two dogs into the house when the air raid siren went off. They burned to death, he said. “I want to bury them, but I’m not allowed yet.
NSA
NSA
05251508
NNNN
Russia pounds Ukraine with barrage of drones, missiles amid prisoner swap; 12 killed
Russia on Sunday, unleashed another wave of deadly airstrikes on Ukraine, striking the capital city Kyiv with missiles and drones for the second consecutive night. At least 12 people were killed in the overnight assault, including three in the Kyiv region, according to Ukrainian officials. This follows a separate round of Russian attacks on Saturday that left at least 13 dead across the country. The two sides began a major prisoner exchange of soldiers and civilians — the first phase of a swap agreed on by the two countries at a meeting in Istanbul last week.
At least 12 people were killed in the overnight assault, including three in the Kyiv region, according to Ukrainian officials. This follows a separate round of Russian attacks on Saturday that left at least 13 dead across the country, mentions a report by CNN.
Hours after the attacks, Moscow said Russia and Ukraine have swapped 303 more prisoners, reported AFP.
Russia’s latest assault on Ukraine comes after the two sides began a major prisoner exchange of soldiers and civilians — the first phase of a swap agreed on by the two countries at a meeting in Istanbul last week.
Nearly 300 Shahed drones, 70 missiles launched Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky shared the devastating aftermath of the deadly assault. Claiming that “Russia was dragging out this war,” Zelensky said that nearly 300 drones — most of them Shahed — were launched by Russians overnight, along with 70 missiles of various types, including ballistic ones.
Also Read | Kyiv Struck by Major Russian Air Barrage After Prisoner Swap
Ukraine’s capital city Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, among other regions were targeted, leading to the destruction of residential buildings, dormitories of the Kyiv university’s history department, Zelensky said in a post on social media platform X.
Air sirens blare in Kyiv Kyiv’s day of celebration turned into one of sorrow as the city marked its annual Kyiv Day — a national holiday that commemorates its founding in the 5th century — under the howl of air raid sirens, with residents being warned to stay in shelters. Civilian buildings in multiple districts were damaged as Russia mounted an attack using drones and rockets, authorities told CNN.
“A difficult Sunday morning in Ukraine after a sleepless night. The most massive Russian air attack in many weeks lasted all night,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a post on social media platform X.
Russia Ukraine prisoner swap Earlier this month, Kyiv and Moscow engaged in their first direct talks since the early days of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. The discussions concluded with an agreement on a prisoner exchange, which commenced on Friday, May 23 and is set to span three days.
Russian strikes kill 12 in Ukraine amid major prisoner swap
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia’s attacks indicated Moscow was “prolonging the war’ Russian military said Ukraine had targeted it with 788 drones and missiles since Tuesday. 307 Russian prisoners of war were exchanged for the same number of Ukrainian soldiers, according to announcements in Kyiv and Moscow. Both sides received 390 people in the first stage of the swap on Friday. They are expected to exchange 1000 each in total in total. Russia is believed to have the larger share, with the number of Ukraine captives estimated to be between 8000 and 10,000. President Vladimir Putin has defied European pressure for a full and unconditional truce in Ukraine, pressing on with the Russian military offensive, which has left tens of thousands dead. Donald Trump congratulated the two countries for the swap.
Emergency services said four people were killed and 16 injured in the Kyiv region, including three children, in the “massive night attack”.
AFP journalists heard explosions in Kyiv, with Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the city’s military administration, warning “the night will not be easy”.
The capital was “under attack” but “air defences are operating”, said Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
In Russia, authorities reported that a dozen drones flying towards Moscow had been downed.
In Moscow, restrictions were imposed on at least four airports, including the main hub Sheremetyevo, the Russian civilian aviation authority said.
‘Crazy feelings’
The renewed attacks came after Russia launched 14 ballistic missiles and 250 drones overnight Friday to Saturday, which left 15 wounded, according to Ukrainian officials.
The Russian military said Saturday Ukraine had targeted it with 788 drones and missiles since Tuesday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia’s attacks indicated Moscow was “prolonging the war” and repeated his call for ramped-up sanctions.
But he also said he expected officials to press on with a prisoner swap agreed during talks in Istanbul, Turkey, on May 16.
On Saturday, 307 Russian prisoners of war were exchanged for the same number of Ukrainian soldiers, according to announcements in Kyiv and Moscow.
Both sides received 390 people in the first stage on Friday.
They are expected to exchange 1000 each in total.
Russia has signalled it will send Ukraine its terms for a peace settlement after the exchange, without saying what those terms would be.
The two enemies have held regular prisoner swaps, but this would be the largest so far, if completed.
An AFP reporter saw some of the formerly captive Ukrainian soldiers arrive at a hospital in the northern Chernigiv region, emaciated but smiling and waving to crowds waiting outside.
“It’s simply crazy. Crazy feelings,” 31-year-old Konstantin Steblev, a soldier, told AFP on Friday as he stepped back on to Ukrainian soil after three years in captivity.
Diplomatic push
United States President Donald Trump on Friday congratulated the two countries for the swap.
“This could lead to something big?” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Trump’s efforts to broker a ceasefire in Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II have so far been unsuccessful, despite his pledge to rapidly end the fighting.
One of the soldiers formerly held captive, 58-year-old Viktor Syvak, told AFP it was hard to express his emotional homecoming.
Captured in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, he had been held for 37 months and 12 days.
“It’s impossible to describe. I can’t put it into words. It’s very joyful,” he said.
After more than three years of fighting, both countries are holding thousands of POWs.
Russia is believed to have the larger share, with the number of Ukrainian captives estimated to be between 8000 and 10,000.
Diplomatic efforts to end the conflict have stepped up in recent weeks, but the Kremlin has shown no sign of walking back maximalist demands for a negotiated peace.
President Vladimir Putin has defied European pressure for a full and unconditional truce in Ukraine, pressing on with the Russian military offensive, which has left tens of thousands dead.
– Agence France-Presse