Russians kill four in teir large-scale attack on Ukraine and injured 100 (updating)
Moscow has launched a large-scale wave of strikes against Ukraine on the night of 23-24 May, firing 90 missiles and 600 drones. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russians killed a total of four civilians and injured 100 others in Ukraine.
Russians killed at least four Ukrainians and injured 77 others in Kyiv and its surrounding areas. Of those injured, 46 were hospitalized, while the rest received outpatient treatment.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Oreshnik hypersonic missile was used in a strike on Bila Tserkva, a city within the Kyiv region.
A person was killed after a nine-storey residential building in Kyiv’s Shevchenko District was hit and a fire broke out on the top floors.
In the same District, a strike near an air raid shelter at a school blocked its entrance with debris, trapping several people inside.
Aftermath of the Russian attack on KyivKyiv was the primary target of the overnight attack. Russians hit more than 50 locations across Ukraine’s capital, according to Ukraine’s national police.
Residential buildings, shopping centres, and emergency service and police buildings were reportedly struck.
Emergency services rushed to multiple scenes of damage across Kyiv, putting out blazes, clearing debris, and treating the injured.
Kyiv’s mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said two people had been killed in the city itself, with 30 people, including two children, in hospital.
In the wider Kyiv region surrounding the capital, a further two people were also killed, according to Oblast head Mykola Kalashnyk. He described the attack as “deliberate terror against peaceful people”, adding that “emergency services are working in all places”.
Morning in Kyiv after Russian large-scale attackA water-supply facility was also attacked.
Russia’s overnight strikes came after warnings from Zelenskyy that there were signs Russia was planning an attack. He had also said that Ukraine’s intelligence services had received information that Russia could use the Oreshnik missile, which reportedly travels at more than 10 times the speed of sound and is impossible to intercept.
The President drew the attention of countries in the world, including the United States of America and in Europe, to the fact that “the use of such weapons and the prolongation of this war also sets a global precedent for other potential aggressors”.
“If Russia is allowed to destroy lives on such a scale, then no agreement will restrain other similar hatred-based regimes from aggression and strikes. We count on a response from the world – and on a response that is not post factum, but preventive. Pressure must be put on Moscow so that it does not expand the war,” Zelenskyy warned.
Aftermath of the Russian attack on KyivHe noted that Ukraine is preparing its air defence “as much as possible” and will respond “fully” and “justly” to every Russian strike.
“We have given permission [Russians] for a parade [in Moscow on 9 May], but Russia has no permission for madness. This war must be ended – we need peace, not some missiles satisfying the sick ambitions of one individual. I thank everyone helping to protect lives,” Zelenskyy said.
Aftermath of the Russian attack on KyivThe assets included:
- 1 medium-range ballistic missile;
- 2 Kh-47M2 Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missiles;
- 3 3M22 Zircon anti-ship missiles;
- 30 Iskander-M/S-400 ballistic missiles (11 shot down or jammed);
- 54 Kh-101/Iskander-K/Kalibr cruise missiles (44 shot down or jammed);
- 600 drones (549 shot down or jammed).
Early reports indicate that 16 missiles and 51 strike drones hit targets at 54 locations, while debris from downed drones fell at 23 locations. In addition, 19 Russian missiles likely failed to reach their targets. Information is being confirmed, and the locations where they may have fallen are being established.
Albanian Foreign Minister Ferit Hoxha announced on X that the residence of Albanian Ambassador to Ukraine Ernal Filo was damaged during an attack on Kyiv. In response, Tirana summoned a Russian diplomat for an explanation. The Albanian foreign minister condemned Russia’s massive attack on civilian targets in Ukraine on May 24.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha reported on X about minor damage to the building of Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the first time since World War II. According to Sybiha, the damage was caused by explosions near the building.
The building of Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign AffairsThe minister stressed that the Russian strikes on Sunday were aimed at the historic centre of the city.
“Russian strikes targeted a historic area, the very center of the ancient Rus’. Yet another proof we are dealing with hordes of barbarians, not the heirs of civilisation.,” Sybiha wrote. He added that, despite the attack, Ukrainian diplomacy will continue its work.
“Looking at its broken windows this morning, I can state with full confidence on behalf of our entire diplomatic team: Russian terrorists will not make us stop. The Ukrainian diplomacy will continue effectively fulfilling its tasks, countering Russian aggression, and bringing peace closer,” Sybiha stated.
A Russian strike on the Ancient Kyiv State Historical and Architectural Reserve in the capital has almost destroyed the Ukrainian National Chornobyl Museum. The attack also damaged architectural landmarks, including the Church of the Nativity of Christ in Podil, the National Art Museum of Ukraine, and the Kyiv Minor Opera.
The Ministry of the Interior Affairs reported that a Russian attack on Kyiv irretrievably destroyed about 40% of the exhibits at the Ukrainian National Chornobyl Museum.
“Rescuers and museum workers began evacuating exhibits immediately after the strike,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement. “They managed to save items from the storage vaults, a painting by Maria Prymachenko and the Ukrainian flag that was raised at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant immediately after its de-occupation in 2022.” He added that police in Kyiv have already received more than 540 reports of damaged property.
Zelenskyy reported that the Russian strike damaged the National Art Museum of Ukraine and the building that housed an office of German public broadcaster ARD.
Outside Kyiv, the regions of Cherkasy, Kharkiv, Kropyvnytskyi, Odesa, Poltava, Sumy, and Zhytomyr have also come under attack, according to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Sybiha.
Ihor Taburets, Head of Cherkasy Oblast Military Administration, reported that a Russian drone struck an apartment building in Cherkasy during a combined Russian attack, injuring 11 people, including two children. The Russian drone strike caused a fire between the fourth and eighth floors of an apartment building. Firefighters have since fully extinguished the blaze. Two children were injured.
Aftermath of Russian attack on CherkasyTaburets also added that a Russian cruise missile damaged the territory of a disused farm in the Zolotonosha district of the oblast. No people were injured there.
Russian forces also struck the center of Bohodukhiv in the Kharkiv Oblast in the morning of May 24, wounding at least 13 people, according to the Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration.
“People were walking to the market, to the stores, going about their usual business. But the enemy cynically launched two drone strikes on the city center – right where civilians were,” Volodymyr Bielyi, head of the Bohodukhiv hromada, wrote on Facebook. “As of now, we already have 13 injured. Cars and residential buildings are damaged, windows are blown out; there is human pain and shock.”
According to the Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration, two women, ages 48 and 68, and four men, ages 36, 47, 53, and 66, were hospitalized with blast injuries. The others received medical treatment at the scene.
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The prosecutor’s office added that 15 cars and the windows of an apartment building were damaged in the attack in Bohodukhiv.
Aftermath of the Russian attack on the Poltava OblastMinister Andrii Sybiha appealed to countries worldwide to strengthen Ukraine’s defense capabilities, particularly in air defense, and to increase pressure on Russia.
“We call for additional defense capabilities, including to protect our sky; investment in our defense industry; increased pressure on Russia, including an entry ban for Russian combatants, full use of frozen assets; strong political decisions with regard to Ukraine’s EU accession and other steps,” Sybiha called on.
The minister emphasized that the world has the leverage to force Russia to end the war.
The President of Ukraine noted in his video address that living with Russia as a neighbor means living under constant threat. Our people in Ukraine are containing and stopping that threat.
“But the world should clearly see who it is dealing with. This is the fifth year of the full-scale war, and from its very first moments, it has been an unprovoked terrorist war by Russia against life. We are doing our best to achieve peace and protect people – everything. It is important that Ukraine is not alone. Decisions are needed – from the United States, from Europe, and others – to make that old ‘Oreshnik’ in Moscow finally utter the word ‘peace’,” he stated.
You may also want to read:European, Japanese, and U.S. parts helped Russia build missiles that killed 24, including three children, in Kyiv on 14 May – Zelenskyy
Following a Russian attack, Ukraine is demanding an urgent meeting of the U.N. Security Council, as well as a joint meeting of the OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation and the OSCE Permanent Council.
Meanwhile, European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas condemned a massive Russian attack on Ukraine that used an Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
Kallas emphasized that Russia has reached a “dead end” on the battlefield, so it is terrorizing Ukrainian civilians with targeted attacks. She called the Russian strikes “heinous terrorist acts” aimed at killing as many civilians as possible.
The top European diplomat announced that EU foreign ministers will discuss increasing pressure on Russia next week.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned the Russian strike and expressed solidarity with the Ukrainian people.
“We will continue to work decisively alongside our European and international partners to support the process of achieving a just and lasting peace,” Meloni stated.
Ukrainian human rights organisations and Ukrainian authorities repeatedly emphasise that structural economic pressure remains a key tool to halt such atrocities. They urge every nation and individual government worldwide to strictly enforce global sanctions, close existing regulatory loopholes, and completely sever remaining commercial and technological ties with the Russian Federation. Civil society groups stress that any continued cooperation by foreign businesses directly contributes to the resources Moscow uses to sustain its ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.
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