Ukraine: At least 12 people, including three children, have been killed and dozens more injured in a wave of overnight Russian drone and missile attacks across Ukraine, according to Ukrainian emergency services and regional officials.
The strikes, which targeted multiple regions, mark one of the deadliest assaults and come just a day after Kyiv endured one of the most intense bombardments since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
In Zhytomyr, west of the capital, three children aged 8, 12, and 17 were killed in their homes. Ten others were injured in the region, and several houses were destroyed or damaged, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (DSNS) reported.
The southern city of Mykolaiv also suffered a deadly drone strike, with a man in his 70s killed after a five-storey residential building was hit. At least five others were wounded in the city.
Further attacks were reported in Khmelnytskyi, where regional head Serhiy Tyurin confirmed four fatalities and five injuries. Tyurin stated that, “Six private houses were destroyed, and another 20 damaged.”
In Kyiv and surrounding areas, local authorities said four people were killed and 16 injured, including three children. Explosions triggered fires and caused damage to residential buildings and a dormitory. As the capital marks its annual Kyiv Day holiday, hundreds were seen sheltering in metro stations amid renewed strikes.
In Kharkiv, regional authorities confirmed at least three people were injured in overnight attacks.Across the border, Russia’s defence ministry said Ukrainian drones targeted eight Russian regions overnight. It claimed that between 20:00 and midnight Moscow time on May 24–25, air defence systems intercepted 95 Ukrainian aircraft-type drones.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin declared that 12 drones approaching the capital were shot down. In the Tula region, drone debris crashed into a residential courtyard, shattering windows in several apartments, though no injuries were reported.
Despite the intensified violence, prisoner swaps between Russia and Ukraine have continued. Both countries exchanged 390 detainees each in the largest swap since the war began. A second exchange saw 307 more Ukrainian prisoners return home, President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed.
The exchanges follow the first face-to-face talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in three years, held recently in Turkey. Both sides have agreed to release 1,000 prisoners each, with a third exchange expected.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump held a two-hour phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier to discuss a proposed 30-day ceasefire. Trump described the conversation as going very well and suggested that negotiations toward ending the war would immediately start.
However, President Putin has yet to formally agree to a ceasefire. He stated only that Russia was open to crafting a memorandum with Ukraine on a possible future peace, leaving the proposal hanging amid ongoing strikes. Russia currently occupies around 20 percent of Ukrainian territory, including Crimea, which was annexed in 2014.
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