Russian airstrikes kill 3 in Ukraine as Zelenskyy warns of evolving drone tech
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Russian drone strikes and bombs kill at least three people in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. Moscow’s latest drone and missile barrage elsewhere was significantly smaller than preceding nights. Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its forces shot down 33 Ukrainian drones overnight into Wednesday morning. Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 85 drones and one missile into the country overnight, of which 49 drones were shot down or otherwise neutralized.”The longer this war continues on our territory, the more warfare technologies evolve and the greater the threat will be to everyone,” Ukraine’s president said Tuesday. “We are also tracking evidence that Russian-Iranian drone technologies have spread to North Korea,” he added. “This is extremely dangerous both for Europe and for East and Southeast Asia,” he said of the threat from North Korea’s Shahed drones and KAB guided bombs. “Without this, they will not go for real diplomacy,” Zelenskyy added of Russia.
(LONDON) — Russian drone strikes and bombs killed at least three people in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv overnight, regional officials there said, even though Moscow’s latest drone and missile barrage elsewhere was significantly smaller than preceding nights.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said in a post to Telegram that another 56 people were injured by Russian attacks overnight, which included the use of Iranian-designed Shahed attack drones, first-person view commercial-style drones and KAB guided bombs.
More than 103 residential buildings were damaged, Terekhov said, describing the destruction as “enormous.”
Kharkiv — Ukraine’s second largest city with a pre-war population of around 1.4 million — sits just 20 miles from the Russian border. That proximity has seen the city bombarded throughout Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Kharkiv has also faced intense recent attacks as Moscow expanded its drone and missile campaign, plus as Russian forces reportedly mass along the nearby border and threaten new incursions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said of the strikes on Kharkiv, “Every new day now means new vile strikes by Russia, and almost every strike is indicative. Russia deserves increased pressure, with literally every hit on ordinary life it proves that pressure is not enough. And we should not be afraid, not postpone new decisions that could complicate the situation for Russia.”
“Without this, they will not go for real diplomacy,” Zelenskyy added. “And this depends primarily on the United States and other world leaders. Everyone who called for an end to the killings and for diplomacy must act.”
Elsewhere on Tuesday night, at least five people were injured by Russian shelling in the southern Kherson region, local officials said in a post to Telegram. One person was also killed and another injured by Russian shelling in the eastern Donetsk region, officials said.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 85 drones and one missile into the country overnight, of which 49 drones were shot down or otherwise neutralized. Impacts were recorded in 14 locations, with drone debris falling in two other locations, the air force said.
Zelenskyy said in a Tuesday night post to Telegram that he had spoken with Defense Minister Rustem Umerov about “our efforts to counter drones, protect against missiles and reinforce our air defense.” The meeting came after Monday night’s massive Russian attack on cities including Kyiv.
“The Russians have once again used ballistic missiles from North Korea,” Zelenskyy said of Monday night’s attacks. “We are also tracking evidence that Russian-Iranian drone technologies have spread to North Korea. This is extremely dangerous both for Europe and for East and Southeast Asia.”
“The longer this war continues on our territory, the more warfare technologies evolve and the greater the threat will be to everyone,” Zelenskyy added. “This must be addressed now — not when thousands of upgraded Shahed drones and ballistic missiles begin to threaten Seoul and Tokyo.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its forces shot down 33 Ukrainian drones overnight into Wednesday morning.
In Russia’s Tambov region — around 260 miles southeast of Moscow and 230 miles from the closest Ukrainian-controlled territory — acting governor Evgeny Pervyshov said on Telegram that a fire broke out in the town of Kotovsk due to falling drone debris. “The situation is under control,” Pervyshov wrote.
But Andriy Kovalenko, the head of the Counter-Disinformation Center operating as part of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said in a Telegram post that an explosives plant in the area was hit by drones.
Kovalenko claimed that the Tambov gunpowder plant had been forced to suspend operations by the strike. “It produces gunpowder used for various types of small arms, artillery and rocket systems,” he said of the facility.
“The enterprise is one of the main suppliers of explosives for the Russian army,” Kovalenko added. “With the beginning of a full-scale war in Ukraine, production at the plant has increased significantly.”
The governor of Russia’s western Belgorod region said six people were also injured by a Ukrainian drone strike on a factory in the town of Shebekino. All were hospitalized, the governor said in a post to Telegram.
ABC News’ Oleksiy Pshemyskiy and Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.
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Wave of Russian strikes kill at least 20 and injures dozens, officials say
Ukraine grapples with changing US support as Russian strikes kill at least 20. US has pulled its military and intelligence support for Ukraine, cutting the country off from crucial satellite imaging. UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s announcement of a “coalition of the willing” to back any peace deal. But a former UK national security adviser warns any plans for UK peacekeepers could last “many years”
Lana Lam
Live digital reporter
Image source, Reuters
At least 20 people have died and dozens were injured overnight following Russian strikes in Ukraine, as Kyiv argued the Kremlin’s war goals are “unchanged” despite pressure from the US to quickly resolve the conflict.
European leaders – and other global powers – are rallying to sort out what’s next for Kyiv, with high-level talks scheduled in the days ahead.
Meanwhile, the US has pulled its military and intelligence support for Ukraine, cutting the country off from crucial satellite imaging.
On Monday, Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky will meet with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman before a Ukrainian delegation – minus Zelensky – meet US officials in Jeddah on Tuesday to discuss a possible ceasefire.
On Tuesday, France will host military chiefs of staff from nations offering to provide military support if a peace deal is reached. The meeting follows UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s announcement of a “coalition of the willing” to back any peace deal – though a former UK national security adviser warns any plans for UK peacekeepers could last “many years”.
Starmer’s standing on the global stage has skyrocketed of late – images of him welcoming Zelensky after his bruising encounter with Trump at the White House made headlines around the world. But what the new attention Starmer means for the prime minister domestically is still unclear. Laura Kuenssberg unpicks some of what’s next for the PM as his government’s foreign policy takes centre stage.
We’re pausing our live coverage shortly – but you can stay up-to-date on the most recent strikes in Ukraine with our full story. We also have some insight from our correspondents on what the US, Russia and Europe are thinking ahead of talks in Saudi Arabia.
Sherrill, Ciattarelli win New Jersey gubernatorial primaries – where Trump is front and center
The Associated Press has projected that U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) will win New Jersey’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, and that former state assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli will win the Republican gubernatorial primary. The contest was on track to become the priciest election in New Jersey history, with over $85 million spent on advertising as of last Wednesday. Republicans are hoping to flip the governorship from blue to red, and point to last year’s presidential results as a sign the state has gotten more favorable for Republicans. The general election could also be a test of the strength of a Trump endorsement without Trump at the top of the ballot. The other Democratic candidates Sherrill faced were Rep. Josh Gottheimer, who represents the state’s 5th District; Newark Mayor Ras Baraka; Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop; New Jersey Education Association President Sean Spiller.
Republicans are hoping to flip the governorship from blue to red, and point to last year’s presidential results as a sign the state has gotten more favorable for Republicans.
“This year’s election for governor is critical for New Jersey’s future. You’ll decide whether New Jersey is a high tax, high crime, sanctuary state,” Trump said during a rally for Ciattarelli, whom he endorsed, held by telephone in early June. “New Jersey is ready to pop out of that blue horror show.”
Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris won New Jersey by just around 6 percentage points in 2024, but then-Vice President Joe Biden won the state by about 16 percentage points in 2020. That means Rep. Mikie Sherrill will have to campaign in a state that may be redder than it used to be.
“We built a nation, and people say the scars we have are ugly… The president comes here nonstop to his golf course and calls our state a horror show – but come November, we’re sending a shot across the bow,” Sherrill told supporters on Tuesday night.
New Jersey Rep. Mikie Sherrill speaks during the New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial primary debate at NJ PBS Studios, May 12, 2025, in Newark, N.J. Steve Hockstein/NJ Advance Media via AP
The general election could also be a test of the strength of a Trump endorsement without Trump at the top of the ballot. Jack Ciattarelli likely benefited from Trump’s endorsement in the primary, but without Trump on the ticket in November, he will have to convince Trump’s base in New Jersey to still turn out.
“We won because our campaign is about people, not politics… We won because we talked about the issues that matter, the critical issues facing our state and my plan for a safer, more prosperous, and affordable New Jersey,” Ciattarelli told supporters at a Tuesday election night event.
Former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli speaks after the first Republican debate, Feb. 4, 2025, at Rider University in Lawrenceville, N.J. Mike Catalini/AP
The other Democratic candidates Sherrill faced were Rep. Josh Gottheimer, who represents the state’s 5th District; Newark Mayor Ras Baraka; Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop; New Jersey Education Association President Sean Spiller; and former state Senate president Steve Sweeney.
Ciattarelli faced conservative radio personality Bill Spadea, state Sen. Jon Bramnick, former Englewood Cliffs Mayor Mario Kranjac, and contractor Justin Barbera.
The contest was on track to become the priciest election in New Jersey history, with over $85 million spent on advertising as of last Wednesday, according to a report from media tracking agency AdImpact.
Among Democrats, Gottheimer has the most ad spending supporting him ($22.8 million), followed by Fulop ($17.8 million).
Ciattarelli led among Republicans with $5.9 million in ad spending or reservations supporting him, dwarfing Spadea’s $2.2 million and Bramnick’s $1.2 million.
About 70% of broadcast ad airings have mentioned Trump, according to AdImpact.
-ABC News’ Emily Chang, Halle Troadec, Averi Harper, and Rachael Dziaba contributed to this report.
Zelensky says ‘US silence’ over Russian attacks encourages Putin
Zelensky says ‘US silence’ over Russian attacks encourages Putin. At least 12 people, including three children, were killed and dozens more injured in widespread strikes across Ukraine. US President Donald Trump reacted late on Sunday by telling reporters: “I’m not happy with what Putin is doing. He’s killing a lot of people” Russia’s defence ministry said it had inflicted damage on military airfields, including depots and electric warfare stations. Two women and 56 men were killed in a ruthless strike aimed at civilians, according to Oleksandr Klymenko, Interior Minister. More than 60 people were injured, with more than 80 people injured, and 27 residential buildings damaged. The attack was Russia’s largest in a single night since Putin launched a full-scale invasion in 2022, with 367 drones and missiles fired. They came a day after one of the heaviest assaults on the capital Kyiv in months. Despite mounting international calls, Russia has continued to intensify its aerial campaign, showing no sign of halting its offensive and ignoring calls for a ceasefire.
25 May 2025 Share Save James Waterhouse BBC Ukraine correspondent, reporting from Kyiv Jaroslav Lukiv, Jemma Crew & Rachel Hagan BBC News Share Save
Reuters
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has alleged that the US’s “silence” after recent Russian attacks is encouraging President Vladimir Putin, following Moscow’s largest aerial attack yet. The overnight attack saw Russia fire 367 drones and missiles – the highest number in a single night since Putin launched a full-scale invasion in 2022. At least 12 people, including three children, were killed and dozens more injured in widespread strikes across Ukraine. They came a day after one of the heaviest assaults on the capital Kyiv in months. US President Donald Trump reacted late on Sunday by telling reporters: “I’m not happy with what Putin is doing. He’s killing a lot of people.”
Ukraine’s Air Force said that since 20:40 on Saturday local time (17:40 GMT), Russia had carried out strikes using 298 drones and 69 cruise and ballistic missiles. The air force said it had shot down 45 cruise missiles and destroyed 266 UAVs, with most regions in Ukraine affected and hits recorded in 22 locations. Rescuers were working in more than 30 cities and villages, Zelensky said. Despite mounting international calls, Russia has continued to intensify its aerial campaign, showing no sign of halting its offensive and ignoring calls for a ceasefire. In a pointed message to Trump – who has previously claimed that Putin is interested in ending the war – Zelensky said: “The world may go on vacation, but the war continues, despite weekends and weekdays. “This cannot be ignored. America’s silence, and the silence of others in the world, only encourages Putin.” Zelensky warned that Russia’s “brutality cannot be stopped” without “strong pressure on the Russian leadership.” Trump’s first comments on the latest strikes came hours later at an airport in Morristown, New Jersey, as he was preparing to return to Washington. “I’m not happy with Putin. I don’t know what’s wrong with him. What the hell happened to him?” Trump said. He declined to give any details about what his response would be. Until then, the only reaction to the Russian barrage from senior US officials came from Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine. In a post on X, he published a photo purportedly showing smoke billowing in the night sky over the Ukrainian capital after the Russian attacks. “This is Kyiv. The indiscriminate killing of women and children at night in their homes is a clear violation of the 1977 Geneva Peace Protocols designed to protect innocents. These attacks are shameful. Stop the killing. Ceasefire now,” Kellogg wrote. The 1977 protocols are amendments to the Geneva Convention, which sets out internationally agreed rules of conduct in war. Of the people killed, three in the Zhytomyr region to the west of Kyiv were children – all siblings, according to Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Mariana Betsa. In a statement on X, she identified them as eight-year-old Stanislav, Tamara, 12, and Roman, 17.
Ukraine deputy foreign minister Siblings Stanislav, Tamara, and Roman were all killed in the Russian bombardment, Ukrainian officials said
When Zelensky refers to “American silence”, he likely means the further sanctions Washington has so far resisted imposing on Moscow for its continued invasion. His argument is that Russia’s war machine is not being starved sufficiently, and that the Kremlin is not being incentivised enough to meaningfully engage in ceasefire talks. Trump has said he wants to use more of a carrot than stick when it comes to convincing Moscow to agree to a ceasefire, but, aside from direct Ukraine-Russia talks and further prisoner of war exchanges, there has been little to no progress on bringing a pause in fighting closer, despite the US president’s growing impatience. Despite Kyiv’s European allies preparing further sanctions for Russia, the US has said it will either continue trying to broker these peace talks, or “walk away” if progress does not follow. With Moscow’s continued, maximalist demands for peace, Putin deciding not to show up at recent ceasefire negotiations in Turkey, and 48 hours of heavy aerial bombardments for Ukraine, it is hard to see what the Kremlin would have to do in order for the White House to adopt a tougher stance. Russia’s defence ministry said it had inflicted damage on targets including military airfields, ammunition depots and electric warfare stations, claiming damage across 142 areas. According to Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, 13 regions were attacked, with more than 60 people injured, 80 residential buildings damaged, and 27 fires recorded. Klymenko called it a “combined, ruthless strike aimed at civilians”. Two women, aged 85 and 56, were killed after a house in Kupiansk was hit, according to Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv region. In the Kyiv region, four people were killed and 16 injured, including three children, DSNS said.
Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory. This includes Crimea – Ukraine’s southern peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014. Russia’s previous largest drone attack came just a week ago when 273 drones were launched on the central Kyiv region and Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions in the east, according to Ukraine’s air force. Russia is able not only to just manufacture drones at a faster rate, but they are also evolving. Shahed drones are now being packed with more explosives and improved technology to evade detection. Ukraine said the 13 regions hit by strikes on Sunday were Kyiv and the capital’s wider region, as well as the regions of Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Sumy and Poltava. In Kyiv, local officials reported 11 injuries, multiple fires and damage to residential buildings, including a dormitory. A BBC colleague messaged to say a block of flats was destroyed, just a five minute drive from where she lived. The strikes came as the capital marked its annual Kyiv Day holiday.
Reuters A resident looks at an apartment building that was damaged in a Russian drone strike on Kyiv
In Russia, the defence ministry said 110 Ukrainian drones were destroyed and intercepted over 12 Russian regions and the Crimea peninsula between midnight and 07:00 local time (05:00 BST). Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported that 12 drones heading towards the capital were shot down. He added that emergency services crews were deployed to assess damage caused by falling drone debris. In the Tula region, just south of Moscow, drone wreckage crashed in the courtyard of a residential building, smashing windows in a number of apartments, local governor Dmitriy Milyaev said. No-one was injured, he added.
Ukraine war latest: Moscow launches deadly strikes on Kharkiv as US says it will cut aid to Kyiv
Russian drone strikes on Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv killed three people and injured dozens more. It follows successive days of heavy aerial bombardment from Moscow targeting regions across the country.
Thanks for joining us, we’ll be back soon with the latest updates from the war in Ukraine.
Before then, here’s a rundown of what’s happened over the last 24 hours…
Russian strikes kill three in Kharkiv
Overnight drone strikes on Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv killed three people and injured dozens more, officials said.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack as “vile”, calling on Ukraine’s allies to exert more pressure on Moscow for its deadly strikes.
The southern port city of Odesa also came under attack, with drones hitting farm buildings, cars and civilian boats.
It follows successive days of heavy aerial bombardment from Moscow targeting regions across the country.
In other news: