Reuters
At least 12 individuals have died, and many others have been injured throughout Ukraine due to overnight drone and missile strikes by Russia, according to regional officials and emergency services.
In Zhytomyr, located west of Kyiv, three children lost their lives, while a man in his seventies died in Mykolaiv, a city in the south, as reported by the state emergencies service.
This attack follows a day when the Ukrainian capital experienced one of the most intense bombings since the beginning of
Ukraine’s air force reported the downing of 45 cruise missiles and the neutralization of 266 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) since 20:40 local time (17:40 GMT) on Saturday.
The overnight attacks impacted most regions across Ukraine, with the air force noting strikes in 22 locations and debris from downed cruise missiles and UAVs falling in 15 areas.
Serhiy Tyurin, the head of the Khmelnytskyi region, mentioned in a Facebook statement that four individuals lost their lives, and five were injured.
He added that six private homes were completely destroyed and another 20 suffered damage.
Ukraine’s state emergencies service, DSNS, reported the deaths of four people and 16 injuries, which included three children, in the Kyiv region.
Mykola Kalashnyk, the Kyiv regional head, shared images on social media showing several homes engulfed in flames due to the Russian strikes.
In Kyiv, local officials reported 11 injuries, numerous fires, and damage to residential structures, including a dormitory.
Hundreds were seen seeking refuge in the underground stations of the city’s metro system. This occurred as Kyiv celebrated its annual Kyiv Day holiday on Sunday.
In Zhytomyr, DSNS announced that three children aged eight, 12, and 17 had been killed, with 10 others injured, and private residences were reported as “destroyed and damaged.”
DSNS stated that the body of an older gentleman was retrieved from a five-storey residential building that was struck by a drone in Mykolaiv, with five additional individuals suffering injuries.
In Kharkiv, regional authorities reported three injuries.
In Russia, the defense ministry claimed that Ukrainian drones targeted eight regions.
“From 20:00 Moscow time (17:00 GMT) on 24 May to 00:00 on 25 May, air defense units successfully destroyed and intercepted 95 UAVs of the aircraft type,” the ministry disclosed in a statement.
Moscow’s Mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, indicated that 12 drones approaching the capital were intercepted.
He added that emergency services were deployed to evaluate the damage caused by falling debris from drones.
In the Tula region, located just south of Moscow, wreckage from a drone fell in the courtyard of a residential building, shattering windows in several apartments, according to local governor Dmitriy Milyaev.
He stated that no injuries were reported.
These strikes occurred as Russia and Ukraine engaged in prisoner swaps following negotiations between both parties in Turkey.
On Friday, Ukraine and Russia exchanged 390 soldiers and civilians each in the largest prisoner exchange since Russia initiated its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that another 307 Ukrainian prisoners had returned home as part of the agreement with the Kremlin.
The two nations have consented to exchange 1,000 prisoners each, with another swap anticipated on Sunday.
This exchange follows the first direct talks between the two sides in three years, which were held in Turkey.
Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump conducted a two-hour phone call with Putin to discuss a US-proposed ceasefire in Ukraine.
Trump said the call went “very well” and noted that Russia and Ukraine would “immediately start” negotiations aimed at a ceasefire and “an end to the war.”
However, Putin has only indicated that Russia would collaborate with Ukraine to develop a “memorandum” on a “potential future peace” and has not agreed to a 30-day ceasefire.
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