Russia used 69 missiles and 298 drones, including Iranian-designed Shahed drones, in the attack.
In what was the largest aerial attack since the beginning of the Russia–Ukraine war, Moscow launched 367 drones and missiles at Ukrainian cities overnight into May 25, leaving at least 12 dead and dozens injured, Ukrainian officials said.
Three of the dead were children in the northern region of Zhytomyr, officials in that area confirmed.
Russia utilized 69 missiles and 298 drones, including Iranian-designed Shahed drones, in the attack.
The air strike came hours before the third and final prisoner swap between Moscow and Kyiv, as the two nations have exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war in an effort to scale down the conflict, which began with Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
On May 24, the two countries swapped 307 of their prisoners as part of the larger multi-day exchange after swapping 390 prisoners on May 23. Russia and Ukraine agreed the week prior during negotiations in Turkey for each side to release 1,000 prisoners of war captured during more than three years of fighting.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the United States, which has pushed for a cease-fire between Ukraine and Russia, to speak out against the overnight attack.
“The silence of America, the silence of others in the world only encourages [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,” he wrote on Telegram. “Every such terrorist Russian strike is reason enough for new sanctions against Russia.”
Moscow did not immediately comment on the attacks, but Russia’s Defense Ministry said it shot down 110 Ukrainian drones with its air defenses overnight.
Russia’s missiles and drones hit more than 30 cities and villages, including Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Chernihiv, Sumy, Odesa, Poltava, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, and Cherkasy, Zelenskyy said.
While the overnight assault was the largest attack of the war in terms of the number of weapons fired, other strikes have led to more fatalities.
At least 12 people perished in the attack and 60 more were injured, according to Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko.
“This was a combined, ruthless strike aimed at civilians. The enemy once again showed that its goal is fear and death,” Klymenko wrote on Telegram.
By Jacob Burg
