The Daily Populous Sunday May 25th, 2025 morning edition
Authored by kyivindependent.com and submitted by SafeBodybuilder7191

This audio is created with AI assistance

Editor's Note: This is a developing story and is being updated.

Russia attacked Kyiv and other Ukrainian regions with drones and missiles overnight on May 24-25, killing at least a dozen people including three children, according to local officials.

Russia launched 69 missiles overnight and 298 drones and simulated drones, according to Ukraine's Air Force, which reported that 45 cruise missiles where shot down by air defense and 266 drones were neutralized, while 22 locations recorded a direct strike.

The attacks come one night after one of the heaviest Russian assaults on Kyiv throughout the full-scale war. The attack also coincides with Kyiv Day, a city holiday typically celebrated on the last Sunday in May.

Ukraine's Air Force warned late on May 24 that Russia had launched waves of drones towards multiple regions and also issued a ballistic missile warning shortly before midnight. Later in the night, an aerial alert went into effect for all Ukrainian regions, including the country's far-western oblasts.

Explosions were reported overnight in Kyiv, Odesa, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Konotop, Chernihiv, Ternopil, and Kharkiv, according to local officials and the news outlet Suspilne.

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha condemned the attack and called on the international community to further pressure Russia for a ceasefire.

"When the entire world calls for an end to the killing, Putin orders even more strikes, attacks, and murders of children. This once again emphasizes the imperative of a full, unconditional, and durable ceasefire for any meaningful peace effort," Sybiha wrote on X.

"The world must pressure Russia to accept it and put an end to the killings immediately."

Kyiv residents shelter underground in the Metro for the second consecutive night of Russian attacks against the capital. (Kateryna Denisova / The Kyiv Independent)

Three children ages 8, 12 and 17 years old were killed in Zhytomyr Oblast, according to the State Emergency Service, while another 12 in the oblast were injured.

Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said the capital was again under attack and advised residents to take shelter.

"The night will not be easy. There is a threat of the enemy using a large number of drones and missiles from strategic aircraft," Tkachenko warned as air defenses actively repelled drones over Kyiv.

Debris from a falling drone struck a student dormitory in Kyiv's Holosiivskyi district, causing a fire, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Four people were injured and received medical treatment on the spot.

Another person injured in the Desnianskyi district received medical attention at the scene, Klitschko said, while a second victim in the area was hospitalized. A house in the city's Dniprovskyi district was also damaged. The Kyiv City Military Administration reported that a young woman in the district was injured with a broken leg.

A business center was damaged in the Shevchenkivskyi district, according to the administration.

The 11 injured victims range in age from 18 to 62, the administration said.

A building in Kyiv damaged by a Russian overnight attack on May 25, 2025. (State Emergency Service / Telegram)

Outside the capital, three people in Kyiv Oblast were killed in the attacks and 10 more suffered injuries.

In Kharkiv, Mayor Ihor Terekhov also reported that drones struck the city's Osnovianskyi, Novobavarskyi, and Shevchenkivskyi districts. A civilian enterprise in the Osnovianskyi district was damaged while an office building was hit in the Shevchenkivskyi district.

Glass shattered in several apartment buildings amid the attacks, Terekhov said. A child was injured by glass fragments and is receiving medical treatment.

Artem Semenikhin, the mayor of Konotop in Sumy Oblast, said Russia's overnight barrage was "probably the most massive and combined attack on our city since the Second World War."

Drones and missiles also hit multiple areas in the city of Chernihiv and the surrounding region, the State Emergency Service reported. Fires broke out at storage facilities and non-residential buildings, including one blaze that covered over 1,000 square meters. Information about casualties and damage is still being investigated.

In the southern city of Mykolaiv, one man was killed and five people injured when a drone hit a five-story residential building, Ukraine's State Emergency Service reported. A teenager was among the injured victims.

In Ternopil, a western city less frequently targeted by Russian attacks, a Kalibr cruise missile struck an industrial facility and caused a fire, according to Governor Viacheslav Nehoda.

Casualties and damage were also reported in Khmelnytskyi Oblast. Governor Serhii Tiurin said the attacks killed four people in the region and injured five others, in addition to destroying civilian infrastructure.

Poland scrambled fighter jets and activated air defenses, as it has previously done to secure its airspace during large-scale Russian attacks on Ukraine.

The previous night, Russia launched a large-scale drone and missile attack against Kyiv, injuring at least 15 people. The strikes caused explosions throughout the city and damaged residential buildings.

Russia continues to target residential neighborhoods in increasingly deadly aerial assaults while the Kremlin remains openly dismissive of international calls for a ceasefire.

Booyacaja on May 24th, 2025 at 22:46 UTC »

Is there a chance that when this guy kicks the bucket his successor won't be as bad?

hoggytime613 on May 24th, 2025 at 22:35 UTC »

I'm in the metro in Kyiv right now, I've been here since the first alert. More and more people are coming down, it must be getting bad up there.

GT7combat on May 24th, 2025 at 22:31 UTC »

trumps phone call really worked