米兰体育

Skip to content
NOWCAST 米兰体育 13 Morning News
Watch on Demand
Advertisement

Russia hits Ukraine with the largest drone-and-missile attack of the war so far

Russia hits Ukraine with the largest drone-and-missile attack of the war so far
Yeah. Yeah OK. We're done. slippery. I. What cre. Look at it. I, I Yeah
AP logo
Updated: 11:31 AM CDT May 25, 2025
Editorial Standards 鈸�
Advertisement
Russia hits Ukraine with the largest drone-and-missile attack of the war so far
AP logo
Updated: 11:31 AM CDT May 25, 2025
Editorial Standards 鈸�
Russia and Ukraine swapped hundreds more prisoners on Sunday, the third and last part of a major exchange that reflected a rare moment of cooperation in otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire in the more than three years of war.Related video above: Emergency services check for wounded after Kyiv comes under large-scale Russian attack on SaturdayHours earlier, the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and other regions came under a massive Russian drone-and-missile attack that killed at least 12 people and injured dozens. Ukrainian officials described it as the largest aerial assault since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.Russia's Defense Ministry said each side exchanged 303 soldiers following the release of 307 combatants and civilians each Saturday and 390 Friday 鈥� the biggest total swap of the war.Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, confirmed Sunday's exchange, saying on X that 鈥�303 Ukrainian defenders are home." He noted that the troops returning to Ukraine were members of the 鈥淎rmed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service, and the State Special Transport Service.鈥漀ataliya Borovyk, the sister of released Ukrainian soldier Ihor Ulesov, was overwhelmed when she learned of her brother鈥檚 return.鈥淢y uncle had to calm me down and put me in a taxi so I could get here,鈥� she told The Associated Press. 鈥淎 moment like that stays with you forever.鈥滲orovyk said the family had been waiting anxiously for news, and that she had hoped her brother might be released in the first part of the exchange Friday.鈥淲e were worried about all the guys. He wasn鈥檛 there on Friday, but I was here 鈥� I at least greeted them. I stood there until the very end and waited, (hoping) maybe he would appear after all.鈥滻n talks held in Istanbul earlier this month 鈥� the first time the two sides met face to face for peace talks 鈥� Kyiv and Moscow agreed to swap 1,000 prisoners of war and civilian detainees each. The exchange has been the only tangible outcome from the talks.Largest aerial attack of the warThe scale of the onslaught was stunning 鈥� Russia hit Ukraine with 367 drones and missiles, the largest single aerial attack of the war, according to Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesperson for Ukraine's Air Force.In all, Russia used 69 missiles of various types and 298 drones, including Iranian-designed Shahed drones, he told The Associated Press.There was no immediate comment from Moscow on the strikes.For Kyiv, the day was particularly somber as the city observed Kyiv Day, a national holiday that falls on the last Sunday in May that commemorates its founding in the fifth century.Zelenskyy said Russian missiles and drones hit more than 30 cities and villages, and urged Western partners to ramp up sanctions on Russia 鈥� a longstanding demand of the Ukrainian leader but one that, despite warnings to Moscow by the United States and Europe, has not materialized in ways to deter Russia.鈥淭hese were deliberate strikes on ordinary cities," Zelenskyy wrote on X, adding that Sunday鈥檚 targets included the Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Chernihiv, Sumy, Odesa, Poltava, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv and Cherkasy regions.鈥淎merica's silence, the silence of others in the world, only encourages" Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said. 鈥淲ithout truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped. Sanctions will certainly help."Russia鈥檚 Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its air defenses shot down 110 Ukrainian drones overnight.'Sleepless night'Sounds of explosions boomed throughout the night in Kyiv and the surrounding area as Ukrainian air defense persisted for hours in efforts to shoot down Russian drones and missiles. At least four people were killed and 16 were injured in the capital itself, according to the security service.鈥淎 difficult Sunday morning in Ukraine after a sleepless night,鈥� Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X, adding that the assault 鈥渓asted all night.鈥滷ires broke out in homes and businesses, set off by falling drone debris.In the Zhytomyr region, west of Kyiv, the emergency service said three children were killed, aged 8, 12 and 17. Twelve people were injured in the attacks, it said. At least four people were killed in the Khmelnytskyi region in western Ukraine. One man was killed in the Mykolaiv region in southern Ukraine.Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a student dormitory in Holosiivskyi district was hit by a drone and one of the building鈥檚 walls was on fire. In Dniprovskyi district, a private house was destroyed, and in Shevchenkivskyi district, windows in a residential building were smashed.The scale of Russia's use of aerial weapons aside, the attacks over the past 48 hours have been among the most intense strikes on Ukraine since the February 2022 invasion.A village engulfed in smoke and rubbleIn Markhalivka, just outside Kyiv where several village homes were burned down, the Fedorenkos watched their ruined home in tears.鈥淭he street looks like Bakhmut, like Mariupol, it鈥檚 just terrible,鈥� said 76-year-old Liubov Fedorenko, comparing their village to some of Ukraine's most devastated cities. She told the AP she was grateful her daughter and grandchildren had not joined them for the weekend.鈥淚 was trying to persuade my daughter to come to us," Fedorenko said, adding that she told her daughter, 鈥�'After all, you live on the eighth floor in Kyiv, and here it鈥檚 the ground floor.'鈥�"She said, 鈥楴o, mum, I鈥檓 not coming.鈥� And thank God she didn鈥檛 come, because the rocket hit (the house) on the side where the children鈥檚 rooms were,鈥� Fedorenko said.Ivan Fedorenko, 80, said he regrets letting their two dogs into the house when the air raid siren went off. 鈥淭hey burned to death,鈥� he said. "I want to bury them, but I鈥檓 not allowed yet.鈥漀o halt in fightingThe POW exchange was the latest of scores of swaps since the war began, but also the biggest involving Ukrainian civilians.Still, it has not halted the fighting. Battles have continued along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, where tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed, and neither country has relented in its deep strikes.Russia鈥檚 Defense Ministry quoted Yaroslav Yakimkin of the 鈥淣orth鈥� group of Russian forces as saying Sunday that Ukrainian troops have been pushed back from the border in the Kursk region, which Putin visited days ago.鈥淭he troops continue to advance forward every day,鈥� Yakimkin said, adding that Russian forces have taken Marine and Loknya in Ukraine鈥檚 northeastern Sumy region, which borders Kursk, over the past week, and were advancing in the Kharkiv region around the largely destroyed town of Vovchansk.Speaking on Russian state TV on Sunday, a Russian serviceman said that Putin was reportedly flying over the Kursk region in a helicopter when the area came under intense Ukrainian drone attack during his visit.Putin鈥檚 helicopter was 鈥渧irtually at the epicenter of repelling a large-scale attack by the enemy鈥檚 drones,鈥� said Yuri Dashkin, described as commander of a Russian air defense division. He added that Russian air defense units shot down 46 drones during the incident.___Yeroshenko reported from Markhalivka, Ukraine. Associated Press writers Elise Morton in London and Volodymyr Yurchuk in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report.

Russia and Ukraine swapped hundreds more prisoners on Sunday, the third and last part of a major exchange that reflected a rare moment of cooperation in otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire in the more than three years of war.

Related video above: Emergency services check for wounded after Kyiv comes under large-scale Russian attack on Saturday

Advertisement

Hours earlier, the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and other regions came under a massive Russian drone-and-missile attack that killed at least 12 people and injured dozens. Ukrainian officials described it as the largest aerial assault since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Russia's Defense Ministry said each side exchanged 303 soldiers following the release of 307 combatants and civilians each Saturday and 390 Friday 鈥� the biggest total swap of the war.

Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, confirmed Sunday's exchange, saying on X that 鈥�303 Ukrainian defenders are home." He noted that the troops returning to Ukraine were members of the 鈥淎rmed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service, and the State Special Transport Service.鈥�

Nataliya Borovyk, the sister of released Ukrainian soldier Ihor Ulesov, was overwhelmed when she learned of her brother鈥檚 return.

鈥淢y uncle had to calm me down and put me in a taxi so I could get here,鈥� she told The Associated Press. 鈥淎 moment like that stays with you forever.鈥�

Borovyk said the family had been waiting anxiously for news, and that she had hoped her brother might be released in the first part of the exchange Friday.

鈥淲e were worried about all the guys. He wasn鈥檛 there on Friday, but I was here 鈥� I at least greeted them. I stood there until the very end and waited, (hoping) maybe he would appear after all.鈥�

In talks held in Istanbul earlier this month 鈥� the first time the two sides met face to face for peace talks 鈥� Kyiv and Moscow agreed to swap 1,000 prisoners of war and civilian detainees each. The exchange has been the only tangible outcome from the talks.

Largest aerial attack of the war

The scale of the onslaught was stunning 鈥� Russia hit Ukraine with 367 drones and missiles, the largest single aerial attack of the war, according to Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesperson for Ukraine's Air Force.

In all, Russia used 69 missiles of various types and 298 drones, including Iranian-designed Shahed drones, he told The Associated Press.

There was no immediate comment from Moscow on the strikes.

For Kyiv, the day was particularly somber as the city observed Kyiv Day, a national holiday that falls on the last Sunday in May that commemorates its founding in the fifth century.

Zelenskyy said Russian missiles and drones hit more than 30 cities and villages, and urged Western partners to ramp up sanctions on Russia 鈥� a longstanding demand of the Ukrainian leader but one that, despite warnings to Moscow by the United States and Europe, has not materialized in ways to deter Russia.

鈥淭hese were deliberate strikes on ordinary cities," Zelenskyy wrote on X, adding that Sunday鈥檚 targets included the Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Chernihiv, Sumy, Odesa, Poltava, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv and Cherkasy regions.

鈥淎merica's silence, the silence of others in the world, only encourages" Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said. 鈥淲ithout truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped. Sanctions will certainly help."

Russia鈥檚 Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its air defenses shot down 110 Ukrainian drones overnight.

'Sleepless night'

Sounds of explosions boomed throughout the night in Kyiv and the surrounding area as Ukrainian air defense persisted for hours in efforts to shoot down Russian drones and missiles. At least four people were killed and 16 were injured in the capital itself, according to the security service.

鈥淎 difficult Sunday morning in Ukraine after a sleepless night,鈥� Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X, adding that the assault 鈥渓asted all night.鈥�

Fires broke out in homes and businesses, set off by falling drone debris.

In the Zhytomyr region, west of Kyiv, the emergency service said three children were killed, aged 8, 12 and 17. Twelve people were injured in the attacks, it said. At least four people were killed in the Khmelnytskyi region in western Ukraine. One man was killed in the Mykolaiv region in southern Ukraine.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a student dormitory in Holosiivskyi district was hit by a drone and one of the building鈥檚 walls was on fire. In Dniprovskyi district, a private house was destroyed, and in Shevchenkivskyi district, windows in a residential building were smashed.

The scale of Russia's use of aerial weapons aside, the attacks over the past 48 hours have been among the most intense strikes on Ukraine since the February 2022 invasion.

A village engulfed in smoke and rubble

In Markhalivka, just outside Kyiv where several village homes were burned down, the Fedorenkos watched their ruined home in tears.

鈥淭he street looks like Bakhmut, like Mariupol, it鈥檚 just terrible,鈥� said 76-year-old Liubov Fedorenko, comparing their village to some of Ukraine's most devastated cities. She told the AP she was grateful her daughter and grandchildren had not joined them for the weekend.

鈥淚 was trying to persuade my daughter to come to us," Fedorenko said, adding that she told her daughter, 鈥�'After all, you live on the eighth floor in Kyiv, and here it鈥檚 the ground floor.'鈥�

"She said, 鈥楴o, mum, I鈥檓 not coming.鈥� And thank God she didn鈥檛 come, because the rocket hit (the house) on the side where the children鈥檚 rooms were,鈥� Fedorenko said.

Ivan Fedorenko, 80, said he regrets letting their two dogs into the house when the air raid siren went off. 鈥淭hey burned to death,鈥� he said. "I want to bury them, but I鈥檓 not allowed yet.鈥�

No halt in fighting

The POW exchange was the latest of scores of swaps since the war began, but also the biggest involving Ukrainian civilians.

Still, it has not halted the fighting. Battles have continued along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, where tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed, and neither country has relented in its deep strikes.

Russia鈥檚 Defense Ministry quoted Yaroslav Yakimkin of the 鈥淣orth鈥� group of Russian forces as saying Sunday that Ukrainian troops have been pushed back from the border in the Kursk region, which Putin visited days ago.

鈥淭he troops continue to advance forward every day,鈥� Yakimkin said, adding that Russian forces have taken Marine and Loknya in Ukraine鈥檚 northeastern Sumy region, which borders Kursk, over the past week, and were advancing in the Kharkiv region around the largely destroyed town of Vovchansk.

Speaking on Russian state TV on Sunday, a Russian serviceman said that Putin was reportedly flying over the Kursk region in a helicopter when the area came under intense Ukrainian drone attack during his visit.

Putin鈥檚 helicopter was 鈥渧irtually at the epicenter of repelling a large-scale attack by the enemy鈥檚 drones,鈥� said Yuri Dashkin, described as commander of a Russian air defense division. He added that Russian air defense units shot down 46 drones during the incident.

___

Yeroshenko reported from Markhalivka, Ukraine. Associated Press writers Elise Morton in London and Volodymyr Yurchuk in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report.