The Daily Populous Monday May 25th, 2026 morning edition
Authored by kyivindependent.com and submitted by Plastic_Ninja_9014

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

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 others injured across the country as a result of the attack. In Kyiv alone, over 80 people were wounded, including three children, and two victims killed.

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.

Over 40% of the items in the Chornobyl Museum's collection were "irrevocobly lost," the Interior Ministry reported the following morning. Rescue workers and musuem staff began evacuating the exhibit immediately after the attack. Their efforts saved several irreplaceable artifacts, including a painting by Maria Prymachenko and the Ukrainian flag planted at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant after its liberation in 2022.

"With today's strike, Russia attempted to destroy not only lives but also memory," the ministry said.

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.

Windows blown out by a blast at the Cabinet of Ministers, Ukraine's government headquarters, after a Russian mass missile attack overnight on May 24, 2026. (Yuliia Svyrydenko / X)

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

In terms of the number of locations damaged in the onslaught, the strike marks the largest attack against Kyiv of the entire full-scale war, Kyiv City Military Administration Head Tymur Tkachenko 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."

Zelensky confirmed that Russia used its Oreshnik medium-range ballistic missile during the attack, the third time Russia has used the sophisticated weapon against Ukraine. The strike targeted Bila Tserkva, a town 50 miles south of Kyiv.

0:00 / 1× Ukraine's State Emergency Service — Kyiv/Telegram

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.

Ukraine's State Emergency Service — Kyiv/Telegram Ukraine's State Emergency Service — Kyiv/Telegram Ukraine's State Emergency Service — Kyiv/Telegram A man standing in smoke looks at heavily damaged buildings following Russian strikes in Kyiv on May 24, 2026. (Roman Pilipey / AFP via Getty Images) Residents take shelter in a metro station in central Kyiv during a Russian air attack on the Ukrainian capital early on May 24, 2026. (Ania Tsoukanova / AFP via Getty Images)

Elsewhere in Ukraine, explosions were also heard in the cities of Cherkasy and Kropyvnytskyi, as well as in Khmelnytskyi Oblast, public broadcaster Suspilne reported.

In response to the attack, Poland's Air Force said it scrambled Polish and allied fighter jets in an effort to protect Polish airspace.

Ukraine has requested emergency meetings of the United Nations Security Council and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's (OSCE) to coordinate an international response to Russia's assault, Sybiha reported the morning after the strike.

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

Sybiha also said the mass attack was Russia's attempt "to compensate for the lack of military advances on the battlefield with terror against civilians."

The latest attack began hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russia was preparing a broader assault across the country, including the possible use of the Oreshnik medium-range missile against Ukraine.

"We are seeing signs of preparation for a combined strike on Ukrainian territory, including Kyiv, involving various types of weaponry. The specified intermediate-range weapons could be used in such a strike," Zelensky said, warning citizens to remain vigilant.

Russia first used an Oreshnik against Ukraine in November 2024 in a strike on the city of Dnipro. The missile was most recently used in an attack on western Lviv Oblast on Jan. 9.

The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv issued a similar warning "concerning a potentially significant air attack" that may occur over a 24-hour time period. The embassy's warning did not specify what type of weapons may be used.

Earlier in the night, Russian attacks injured civilians in southern and eastern Ukraine, including in Odesa and Kharkiv oblasts. Explosions were also heard in Kyiv as Russian drones targeted the capital, according to Tkachenko.

read also Zelensky warns of possible Russian Oreshnik missile attack on Ukraine

Need_answers11 on May 24th, 2026 at 23:46 UTC »

8 confirmed deaths now

AirWolf231 on May 24th, 2026 at 23:44 UTC »

And what has this achieved? This has slowed down the Ukrainian military afford by a grand total of 0%... hell, it might have increased it in the next few days since the Ukrainians will hit something big in return.

Peter225B on May 24th, 2026 at 23:23 UTC »

The war criminal Putin is targeting civilians again.