Ukraine war latest: Russia terrorizes Kyiv with massive ballistic missile, drone attack

Key developments on May 23-24:

• 'Damage in every district of Kyiv' — Massive Russian ballistic missile, drone attack kills 4, injures 100
• Russia launched Oreshnik missile at Kyiv Oblast in overnight attack, Zelensky confirms
• Ukraine strikes major Russian oil pumping station supplying Moscow Oblast, SBU says
• Russian drone hits Sumy funeral procession in ‘cynical’ attack, killing 1, injuring 14

Russian forces launched a large-scale combined missile and drone attack overnight on May 24, targeting mainly Kyiv and the surrounding region, causing casualties and destruction across the capital.

Ukraine's Air Force said that Russia launched 90 missiles and 600 drones in an attack that lasted several hours, making the attack one of the largest in the last year.

Kyiv Independent journalists on the ground reported a massive series of wall-shaking explosions in Ukraine's capital from around 1 a.m local time, and then again multiple times between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m, as Russia launched waves of ballistic and cruise missiles at the city.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported damage "in every district of the city," as missile and drone strikes hit across the capital — including central areas that tend to see fewer strikes during Russian attacks.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on May 24 that four people were killed and almost 100 other injured as a result of the attack.

The National Art Museum, one of the oldest and most important museums in Ukraine, was damaged by a blast wave, according to the Culture Ministry. The collection, which ranges from classic to contemporary art, was not damaged.

The Kyiv Opera Theater, the Ukrainian House, the Valeriy Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium, and the Chornobyl Museum were among other institutions damaged in the attack.

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that for the first time since World War II, the Foreign Ministry building sustained damage from an attack, although the damage wasn't severe.

The Cabinet of Ministers, Ukraine's government headquarters, was also damaged overnight, Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko reported. A blast wave shattered windows, but no one was injured.

The building was damaged for the first time in a mass missile attack in September 2025.

Civilian homes and infrastructure were also targeted. In Kyiv alone, about 30 residential buildings were damaged or destroyed, Zelensky said.

"There were sounds… a terrifying explosion. A terrible explosion. Flames. For a brief instant — maybe a second — I lost consciousness," Yevhen, a 74-year-old pensioner, told the Kyiv Independent at one of the attack sites.

"I can't say I was scared. I wasn't scared. You see, we Kyiv residents are already used to this. Our emotions have become a little dulled."

Among other damage to infrastructure in Kyiv, Russian missiles and drones struck a supermarket and shopping center, office center, dormitory, service station, garage, parked vehicles, and multiple warehouses across various neighborhoods of the city.

Ihor Smelyansky, the CEO of Ukrposhta — Ukraine's national postal service — said that the agency's headquarters on Kyiv's central Independence Square sustained damage in the attack.

In Kyiv Oblast, Russian projectiles struck the communities of Fastiv, Bucha, Brovary, Bila Tserkva, Vyshhorod, and Boryspil, regional Governor Mykola Kalashnyk said. The attacks hit residential buildings, homes, garages, utility buildings, and a warehouse.

Russia launched Oreshnik missile at Kyiv Oblast in overnight attack, Zelensky confirms

Russia launched its sophisticated medium-range Oreshnik ballistic missile at Ukraine's Kyiv Oblast during a massive combined missile and drone attack overnight on May 24, President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed.

"(Putin) launched his Oreshnik against Bila Tserkva," Zelensky said in a Telegram post in the aftermath of the attack.

"They're really insane. It's important that this doesn't go unpunished for Russia," he added.

The European Union's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, condemned on May 24 Russia's confirmed use of the Oresnik missile, calling it "a political scare-tactic and reckless nuclear brinkmanship."

"Next week, EU Foreign Ministers will discuss how to dial up the international pressure on Russia," she wrote.

The EU is discussing a fresh package of sanctions, which was shown to ambassadors on Friday. The listings, which the Kyiv Independent has seen, include entities involved in missile production as well as organizations helping Moscow evade sanctions.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha also called for emergency meetings of the United Nations Security Council and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in response to Russia's mass attack and use of the Oreshnik.

"Putin is trying to intimidate Ukraine by attacking civilians and destroying residential buildings, museums, schools, and critical infrastructure," he wrote on X." He is also trying to intimidate the world by launching IRBMs against peaceful cities."

Russia has boasted that the Oreshnik missile is a sophisticated, hard-to-intercept system capable of carrying nuclear warheads, though it has not been deployed against Ukraine in that capacity.

Little is known about the weapon, but some defense analysts have cast doubt on its novelty — claiming that it is an upgraded version of Russia's RS-26 Rubez, first developed in 2011.

The targeting of Bila Tserkva marks the third known use of the Oreshnik missile against Ukraine, and the first time the weapon has been directed at Kyiv Oblast. Russia first deployed the Oreshnik in late November 2024, striking the central-eastern city of Dnipro. A second launch followed in early January, when the missile was used against western Lviv Oblast.

Ukraine strikes major Russian oil pumping station supplying Moscow Oblast, SBU says

Ukrainian forces launched a successful drone attack against the Vtorovo oil pumping station in Russia's Vladimir Oblast overnight on May 24, Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) reported.

The Vtorovo oil pumping and dispatching station is a strategic infrastructure hub that supplies fuel to Moscow Oblast. Operated by Transneft, Russia's state-owned oil pipeline monopoly, the Vtorovo station pumps raw materials from refineries in central Russia to export terminals and domestic consumers.

The facility also supplies fuel to major Russian airports, including Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, and Vnukovo near Moscow.

Drone operators of the SBU's elite Alpha unit targeted the Vtorovo station overnight, acting under the orders of President Volodymyr Zelensky, the SBU reported the following morning.

The attack hit the pumping station, causing a large-scale fire over an area of 800 square meters.

The SBU's strike came on the same night that Russia slammed Kyiv and the surrounding region with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles, including an Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) in one of the most intense assaults on the capital of the full-scale war.

"Unlike the enemy, who deliberately attacks civilian infrastructure and peaceful people, Ukraine strikes only at military and strategic targets related to ensuring Russian aggression," the SBU said.

Ukraine regularly attacks Russian oil assets and military facilities with its domestically produced long-range weapons. As Ukraine's homegrown drone production has expanded and improved, so has its ability to disrupt Russian fuel production, aviation operations, and exports.

""The SBU is already preparing new special operations. The intensity of Ukraine's strikes on Russian territory will only increase. Our long-range sanctions will continue to work," said Yevhenii Khmara, head of the SBU.

Russian drone hits Sumy funeral procession in ‘cynical’ attack, killing 1, injuring 14

A Russian drone attacked a funeral procession on the outskirts of the northeastern city of Sumy on the morning of May 23 in what regional authorities described as a "cynical attack," killing one person and injuring fourteen others.

Sumy, located around 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the Russian border in northeastern Ukraine, faces frequent cross-border drone, missile, and artillery attacks throughout the full-scale war due to its proximity to Russian territory.

According to the Sumy Oblast Military Administration, the drone struck the procession while commemorations marking Ukraine’s Day of Heroes were taking place across the city.

Authorities initially reported that one man had been critically injured in the attack. Officials later said he died during surgery in hospital.

"Doctors did everything possible to save his life," the administration said, adding that the victim's identity was still being established.

Authorities said all those injured were receiving medical assistance and warned that the threat of repeated Russian attacks remained.

Earlier in the day, local officials and residents gathered at Sumy's central cemetery to honor fallen Ukrainian soldiers as part of Day of Heroes commemorations. The events included a flower-laying ceremony at the city's Alley of Glory and a minute of silence organized by local youth groups.

Russia has repeatedly targeted funerals, memorial gatherings, and civilian commemorations throughout the full-scale war. In October 2023, a Russian strike on a memorial gathering in the village of Hroza in Kharkiv Oblast killed 51 people in one of the deadliest attacks on Ukrainian civilians during the invasion.

Note from the author:

Ukraine War Latest is put together by the Kyiv Independent news desk team, who keep you informed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you value our work and want to ensure we have the resources to continue, join the Kyiv Independent community.