On Sunday, a significant ballistic missile strike targeted Kyiv, injuring at least five individuals following Moscow’s threats of retaliation for Ukrainian strikes in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine. Loud blasts echoed through the Ukrainian capital, causing tremors in a residential building near the government district. Meanwhile, many sought refuge in a metro station in the city center, according to Agence France-Presse journalists.
Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, announced on Telegram, “The capital has come under a mass ballistic missile attack.” Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed five injuries, with one person hospitalized. In response to a Russian airstrike, residents took shelter in a central Kyiv metro station on May 24, 2026, as reported by Ania Tsoukanova/AFP via Getty Images.
Preliminary reports indicated at least four locations affected: Shevchenkivsky, Dniprovsky, and Podilsky districts experienced fires and damage to residential buildings, according to Tkachenko. “A strike drone attack is ongoing; the ballistic missile threat remains present. Stay in shelters!” he warned. Ukrainian authorities and the U.S. Embassy previously alerted the public about a possible major assault on the capital after Russia threatened “punishment” for lethal strikes in eastern Ukraine under its control.
Klitschko noted that medical teams responded to the Podilsky district in Kyiv’s northwest, where debris fell in a non-residential area. The attack also ignited a fire near a residential site in Shevchenkivsky. Kyiv had earlier expected a large-scale Russian missile assault following its drone attack in occupied eastern regions, which Moscow claimed struck a college dormitory, resulting in 18 casualties. Conducted overnight from Thursday to Friday, the drone attack—one of Ukraine’s deadliest in months—injured 42 in Starobilsk, in the occupied Lugansk region, trapping people beneath the wreckage.
Ukraine refuted claims of targeting civilians, asserting it struck a Russian drone unit positioned in Starobilsk. Russia’s foreign ministry declared on Friday that those accountable would “face inevitable and severe punishment.” On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv issued alerts regarding the possibility of a significant Russian airstrike.
Zelenskyy stated on social media, “We are seeing signs of preparation for a combined strike on Ukrainian territory, including Kyiv, involving various types of weaponry,” mentioning the Oreshnik, a Russian nuclear-capable hypersonic missile. The U.S. Embassy reported receiving information about a potentially significant air attack that “may occur at any time over the next 24 hours.”
Ukraine frequently targets Russian-controlled territories with drones, labeling these operations as retaliation for Russian incursions. Russia’s emergency ministry reported recovering two more bodies from the dormitory rubble, raising the death toll to 18. Rescue efforts were documented in a video, showing personnel sifting through a partially collapsed five-story building section.
A list of casualties, published by the Moscow-backed governor of occupied Lugansk, Leonid Pasechnik, revealed most victims were young women born between 2003 and 2008. Pasechnik expressed, “The region and the entire country share the fate of these people and the pain of their families,” on Telegram.
The United Nations condemned attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, stating verification of specifics was difficult due to limited access to the area. Located about 40 miles from the front line in eastern Ukraine, Starobilsk fell to Russian forces during the initial months of the 2022 offensive.
Recently, Kyiv enhanced its drone capabilities and increased strikes within undisputed Russian territory, targeting residential zones and oil facilities. Despite Moscow’s daily missile and drone barrages on Ukraine since 2022, it denies civilian targeting. Diplomatic talks, led by the United States, to end over four years of conflict have decelerated as Washington focuses on its Middle East engagement.