Russia launched a large-scale overnight assault on Ukraine, firing hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles in attacks that killed at least four people and injured around 100, according to Ukrainian officials.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv was the primary target of the strikes, though several other regions were also hit. Loud explosions were reported across the capital through the night, while residential buildings, a school, an opera house and a museum suffered damage.

Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 90 missiles and 600 drones from Saturday evening onwards. Preliminary data indicated that 55 ballistic and cruise missiles and 549 drones were intercepted or destroyed, while 19 missiles may have failed to reach their targets. Officials also reported 16 direct missile strikes and 51 drone impacts across 54 locations.

Kyiv Under Heavy Fire

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said two people were killed inside the city and 36 others, including two children, were taken to hospital.

One fatality occurred after a nine-storey apartment building in Kyiv’s Shevchenko district was struck, sparking a fire on the upper floors. In the same district, debris from another strike blocked the entrance to an air raid shelter at a school, trapping several people inside.

Emergency crews were deployed across the capital to extinguish fires, clear rubble and treat the wounded.

In the surrounding Kyiv region, regional governor Mykola Kalashnyk said two additional people had been killed. He described the strikes as “deliberate terror against peaceful people”.

Ukraine’s Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said the Chornobyl Museum in Kyiv had been heavily damaged. He called it “a deliberate attack on history, memory, and truth”.

Other regions including Cherkasy, Kharkiv, Odesa, Poltava, Sumy and Zhytomyr were also targeted, according to Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.

Dispute Over Oreshnik Missile

Russia’s defence ministry said the attacks were carried out in response to what it described as Ukrainian strikes on civilian infrastructure. Ukraine’s military denies targeting civilians.

Moscow also claimed it used the Oreshnik hypersonic missile during the assault. The weapon is believed to travel at more than 10 times the speed of sound and is capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads.

President Zelensky said the missile had been launched at Bila Tserkva in the Kyiv region, though Ukraine’s presidential office later said investigations were continuing to confirm exactly which weapons had been used.

If verified, it would mark the third known use of the Oreshnik missile since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022 under President Vladimir Putin.

International Reaction

European leaders condemned the strikes and the reported use of the hypersonic missile.

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticised the attack, while EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas described the missile’s use as “reckless nuclear-brinkmanship”.

UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the scenes in Kyiv were “awful” and pledged continued pressure on Russia.

The assault came days after Russian officials accused Ukraine of attacking a student dormitory in the occupied town of Starobilsk, where Moscow said 21 people were killed. Ukraine acknowledged carrying out a strike in the area but said it targeted an elite Russian drone unit.

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Adapted by ASEAN Now. Source 25 May 2026

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Russia is in its death throes.

Maybe it's not so smart to poke the bear?

Ukraine drone strikes hit Moscow region, 3 dead - World News - Discussion - Thailand News and Discussion Forum | ASEANNOW

Just now, impulse said:

Maybe it's not so smart to poke the bear?

Ukraine drone strikes hit Moscow region, 3 dead - World News - Discussion - Thailand News and Discussion Forum | ASEANNOW

Putin apologist.

Putin apologist.

Thank you for your concise and well considered reply. As usual.

What, exactly, would you have the Russkies do in response to missiles and drones sent hundreds of miles from the conflict zone, into their capital city?

11 minutes ago, impulse said:

Thank you for your concise and well considered reply. As usual.

What, exactly, would you have the Russkies do in response to missiles and drones sent hundreds of miles from the conflict zone, into their capital city?

Yeah, Ukraine should have surrendered on day one after genocidal dictator Putin first invaded.

Russia invades Ukraine sending attacks daily for many years, many of which are intentional TERRORISM attacks on civilian targets, and you think Ukraine should not go after military targets in Russia?

This recent hit on Kiev was very bad.

Ukraine will retaliate but not with terrorism.

At this point, you really couldn't blame Ukraine for matching Putin's terrorism but so far they have decided not to go there.

And Russian has the gall to claim Ukraine is engaged in terrorism.

Revenge is a dish best served with lots of missiles and drones.

This two week special military operation drags on and on.

4 hours ago, TedG said:

And Russian has the gall to claim Ukraine is engaged in terrorism.

This is what Russia is responding to

Ukraine terrorising its own people on its (claimed) own land.

Ukraine: UN alarmed by reports of deadly strike on dormitory in occupied Luhansk

https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/05/1167579

Zelensky goes full 'Nazi'. as reported here.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/24/world/europe/ukraine-melnyk-nationalist-collaborator.html

President Volodymyr Zelensky provided full state honors for the ritual, signaling a deep shift in Ukrainian politics after Russia’s invasion in 2022. Before then, Mr. Zelensky had kept nationalist politics at arm’s length; in the reburial, he embraced them.

The remains of the long-dead World War II-era Ukrainian leader were exhumed in Luxembourg, where he had been buried after dying in exile in 1964, and returned to Ukraine. There was none of the raw grief of today’s war funerals.

Melnyk led one of two factions of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, including through a period of alignment with the Nazi army during its occupation of Ukraine, which was one of the bloodiest chapters of World War II.