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Deadly missile and drone strikes batter Kyiv for second night Twelve people killed after Russia’s biggest air raid of war against Ukraine
(about 2 hours later)
Other Ukrainian cities and regions also hit with nine people reported killed at the same time as Russia and Ukraine are conducting a major prisoner exchange Three children killed in Kyiv region after 298 drones and 69 missile strikes launched in multiple waves
Russia has launched a second straight night of massive drone and ballistic missile strikes against Ukraine, with the capital city, Kyiv, once again the focus of heavy attack. Russia has launched the largest air raid in three years of the war against Ukraine in a second straight night of massive drone and ballistic missile strikes which saw the capital city, Kyiv, once again the focus of heavy attack.
Across the country nine people were killed, including three children in the Kyiv region, and dozens more injured, according to reports on Sunday morning. Across the country at least 12 people were killed, according to officials, including three children in the Kyiv region, and dozens more injured, as officials released the first assessment of casualties and damage on Sunday morning.
The air raids came as Russia and Ukraine exchanged hundreds more prisoners Saturday in a continuing major swap that amounted to a rare moment of cooperation amid otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire. Ukrainian officials later confirmed that Russia had launched 298 drones and 69 missiles in multiple waves. Russia’s defence ministry said its air defences had shot down 110 Ukrainian drones overnight.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said Russia’s attacks indicated Moscow was “prolonging the war” and repeated his call for ramped-up sanctions. Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the United States to speak out against the Russian attacks.
But he also said he expected officials to press on with a prisoner swap agreed during talks last week in Istanbul. “The silence of America, the silence of others in the world only encourages Putin,” Ukraine’s president wrote on Telegram. “Every such terrorist Russian strike is reason enough for new sanctions against Russia.”
Russian strikes hit locations right across Ukraine from the southern coast and east to the west. But he also said he expected officials to press on with a major prisoner swap agreed during talks last week in Istanbul. The swap, in which Russia and Ukraine exchange hundreds more prisoners on Saturday, amounts to a rare moment of cooperation amid otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire.
Four people were reported dead in the western Khmelnytskyi region, four in the Kyiv region, and one in Mykolaiv in the south. Russian strikes hit locations across Ukraine on Saturday night into Sunday, from the southern coast and east to the west. Four people were reported dead in the western Khmelnytskyi region, four in the Kyiv region, and one in Mykolaiv in the south.
“Last night, the Khmelnytskyi region came under hostile Russian fire, which resulted in the destruction of civilian infrastructure … Unfortunately, four people were killed,” Sergiy Tyurin, the deputy head of the regional military administration, said in a Telegram post. Sergiy Tyurin, the deputy head of the Khmelnytskyi military administration, said in a Telegram post: “Last night, the Khmelnytskyi region came under hostile Russian fire, which resulted in the destruction of civilian infrastructure … Unfortunately, four people were killed.”
Emergency services posted that four people were killed and 16 injured in the Kyiv region, including three children, in the “massive night attack”. Emergency services said four people had been killed and 16 injured in the Kyiv region, including three children in the “massive night attack”.
The intensity and frequency of this weekend’s strikes put paid to the claim by the US president, Donald Trump, that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, is interested in “peace”. Kyiv’a mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said that by 3am on Sunday there were “already 10 injured” in the capital, adding that a student dormitory in Holosiivskyi district had been hit by a drone and one of its outside walls was on fire.
At time of writing, Trump, who has been vocal in talking up his peace efforts, had not commented on the weekend’s heavy strikes. The intensity and frequency of this weekend’s strikes contrasted sharply with Trump’s claim that Vladimir Putin was interested in peace. Trump, who has been talking up his peace efforts, has not yet commented on the weekend’s heavy strikes.
The Kyiv mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said “there are already 10 injured” in Kyiv as of 3am on Sunday, adding that a student dormitory in Holosiivskyi district had been hit by a drone and one of its outside walls was on fire. The attacks meant Kyiv Day – celebrated on the last Sunday in May – began with exhausted residents sheltered in bunkers, metro stations and basements.
The attacks meant Kyiv Day – celebrated on the last Sunday in May – began with exhausted residents once again sheltered in bunkers, metro stations and basements. Odesa, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Konotop, Chernihiv, Ternopil, and Kharkiv were also hit, according to local media reports.
Odesa, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Konotop, Chernihiv, Ternopil, and Kharkiv were also hit according to local media reports. With waves of drones beginning at about midnight on Saturday, accompanied by warnings of ballistic missile launches as the night wore on, a Guardian reporter in Kyiv heard three drones reach the centre of the city, despite action by air defences, and the sound of loud detonations.
With waves of drones beginning at around midnight on Saturday, accompanied by warnings of ballistic missile launches as the night wore on, a Guardian reporter in Kyiv heard three drones reach the centre of the city, despite action by air defences, before the sound of loud detonations. Russian authorities reported that a dozen drones flying towards Moscow had been shot down.
Russian authorities meanwhile reported that a dozen drones flying towards Moscow had been downed.
The latest fire comes as the two sides pursue their biggest prisoner swap since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The attack on Kyiv began with Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the city’s military administration, warning “the night will not be easy” as residents tracked waves of launches on air raid warning apps.The attack on Kyiv began with Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the city’s military administration, warning “the night will not be easy” as residents tracked waves of launches on air raid warning apps.
At one point Tkachenko reported “more than a dozen enemy drones” were flying around the capital. At one point Tkachenko reported more than a dozen Russian drones were flying around the capital.
“Some of the drones over Kyiv and the surrounding area have already been dealt with. But the new ones are still entering the capital,” he posted.“Some of the drones over Kyiv and the surrounding area have already been dealt with. But the new ones are still entering the capital,” he posted.
Ukraine and its European allies have sought to push Moscow into signing a 30-day ceasefire as a first step to negotiating an end to the war.
In a blow to their efforts, Trump this week declined to place further sanctions on Moscow for not agreeing to an immediate pause in fighting, as Kyiv had wanted.
Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, wrote on Telegram: “Without pressure, nothing will change and Russia and its allies will only build up forces for such murders in Western countries.
“Moscow will fight as long as it has the ability to produce weapons.”