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Twelve people killed after Russia’s biggest air raid of war against Ukraine Ukraine condemns US ‘silence’ after Russia’s biggest air raid of war
(about 4 hours later)
Three children killed in Kyiv region after 298 drones and 69 missile strikes launched in multiple waves At least 12 killed including three children after Kremlin launches 298 drones and 69 missile strikes against neighbour
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 in which the capital city, Kyiv, was once again the focus of heavy attack. Ukraine has condemned US “silence” after Russia carried out its largest air raid in three years of war, with a second straight night of massive drone and ballistic missile strikes killing at least 12 people, including three children.
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. Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the US to speak out against the Russian attacks, after Ukrainian officials confirmed Moscow had launched 298 drones and 69 missiles in multiple waves on sites across the country.
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.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the US to speak out against the Russian attacks.
“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.”“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.”
The huge scale of the latest attack, and its civilian victims, prompted the European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, to call for “the strongest international pressure” on Russia to stop this war”. Russia’s defence ministry said its air defences shot down 110 Ukrainian drones overnight.
“Last night’s attacks again show Russia bent on more suffering and the annihilation of Ukraine. Devastating to see children among innocent victims harmed and killed... We need the strongest international pressure on Russia to stop this war,” Kallas said on X. The attacks came as the two countries completed their biggest prisoner swap since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, with 1,000 captured soldiers and civilian prisoners exchanged by each side.
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. The scale of the latest aerial assault on Ukraine, and the number of civilian victims, prompted the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, to call for “the strongest international pressure on Russia to stop this war”.
Serhiy 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.” She said on X: “Last night’s attacks again show Russia bent on more suffering and the annihilation of Ukraine. Devastating to see children among innocent victims harmed and killed … We need the strongest international pressure on Russia to stop this war.”
Emergency services said four people had been killed and 16 injured in the Kyiv region, including three children in the “massive night attack”. Kallas was echoed by Estonia’s foreign minister, Margus Tsahkna. “Another night of Russia demonstrating its ongoing aim to wipe Ukraine off the map with swarms of drones & missiles – including ballistic ones. Putin continues this until the pressure becomes unbearable. It’s in our hands to make him stop,” he wrote on X.
They were later identified as siblings: Stanislav, Roman and Tamara Martyniuk, who died when their family home in Zhytomyr region was struck. Later, Keith Kellogg, the US’s special envoy for Ukraine, condemned the attacks but without any mention of Russia or Putin. “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,” he wrote on X.
Kyiv’s 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. There was no immediate comment from Donald Trump.
The intensity and frequency of this weekend’s strikes contrasted sharply with Trump’s claim that Vladimir Putin was interested in peace. The US president, who has been talking up his peace efforts, has not yet commented on the weekend’s heavy strikes. 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.
The attacks meant Kyiv Day – celebrated on the last Sunday in May – began with exhausted people sheltered in bunkers, metro stations and basements. In Markhalivka village, just south-west of Kyiv, where most of a residential street was destroyed, Tetiana Iankovska, 65, told AFP: “We saw the whole street was on fire.”
Another retiree who survived the strikes, Oleskandr, 64, said he had no faith in diplomacy. “We don’t need talks but weapons, a lot of weapons, to stop them [the Russians]. Because Russia understands only force, nothing else,” he said.
Emergency services said four people were killed and 16 injured in the Kyiv region, including three children, in the “massive night attack”. The children were later identified as siblings: Stanislav, Roman and Tamara Martyniuk, who died when their family home in Zhytomyr region was struck.
Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said a student dormitory in Holosiivskyi district was hit by a drone and one of its outside walls was on fire.
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.
The intensity and frequency of this weekend’s strikes contrasted sharply with Trump’s claim that Vladimir Putin was interested in peace.
The attacks meant Kyiv Day – celebrated on the last Sunday in May – began with exhausted people sheltered in bunkers, metro stations and basements.
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 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.
There are claims that Russia has upgraded its missiles with radar decoys and evasive tactics to make them harder to intercept by Ukraine’s air defence systems.
Russian authorities reported that a dozen drones flying towards Moscow had been shot down.Russian authorities reported that a dozen drones flying towards Moscow had been shot down.
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 Russian 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.
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. 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.”
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.”