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Russia uses hypersonic Oreshnik missile in mass attack on Kyiv
+626 words added -853 words removed
Special Series Ukraine invasion — explained The roots of Russia's invasion of Ukraine go back decades and run deep. The current conflict is more than one country fighting to take over another; it is — in the words of one U.S. official — a shift in "the world order."Here are some helpful stories to make sense of it all.
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− By
The Associated Press
A man carries a box from a burning trade center after a Russian strike on Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday, May 24, 2026.
+ Joanna Kakissis
A man carries a box from a burning trade center after a Russian strike on Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday, May 24, 2026.
− Evgeniy Maloletka/AP hide caption
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday Russia used the powerful hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missile during a mass drone and missile attack on Kyiv on Sunday that killed at least two people, marking the third time the weapon has been used in the four-year war.
+ Evgeniy Maloletka/AP hide caption
KYIV – Russia pummeled Ukraine's capital with a massive wave of missile and drone attacks early Sunday that sparked fires, and hours of explosions shook buildings.
− The intense aerial assault damaged buildings across the Ukrainian capital, including near government offices, residential buildings and schools.
+ State of the World from NPR Shifting momentum in the Russia-Ukraine war At least two people were killed and at least 77 injured, according to Kyiv mayor Vitaliy Klitschko, who said there was damage in "every district of the city."
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement posted to social media that the European Union was sending more support to help Ukraine reinforce its air defense systems.
− The Oreshnik, which is capable of carrying nuclear or conventional warheads, struck the city of Bila Tserkva in the Kyiv region, Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram.
+ "Russia's massive attack on Ukraine last night shows the Kremlin's brutality and disregard for both human life and peace negotiations," von der Leyen said.
− The target was not immediately clear.
Russia's Defense Ministry on Sunday confirmed it used the Oreshnik, as well as other missile types, to strike Ukrainian "military command and control facilities," air bases and military industrial enterprises.
+ "Terror against civilians is not strength.
− It did not specify where the targets were.
The ministry added the attack was retaliation for Ukrainian strikes on "civilian facilities on Russian territory", without immediately giving detail.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday denounced a drone strike on a college dormitory in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine, which Moscow blames on Kyiv, and ordered the Russian military to submit its proposals for retaliation.
+ It's despair."
Ukraine's culture minister Tetyana Berezhna said the attacks also damaged the largest number of cultural institutions in Kyiv since Russia's 2022 invasion.
− He said there were no military or law enforcement facilities near the college.
+ The museum devoted to the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, the worst nuclear accident in history, was destroyed. One of the city's oldest markets also burned down.
− The death toll from the strike in Starobilsk had risen to 21 as search-and-rescue operations closed, the press service of Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations said late on Saturday.
+ Ukraine's air force said Russia used 600 drones and 90 missiles in the attack, including a powerful hypersonic ballistic missile called the Oreshnik, which is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
− It said 42 other people had been injured in the attack the previous night. The Kremlin-installed authorities of the Luhansk region announced two days of mourning on Sunday and Monday to honor the victims.
+ Ukrainian air defense forces intercepted most of the drones and more than half of the missiles.
− At a U.N.
+ The extensive strikes came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy alerted Ukrainians that large strikes involving an Oreshnik were imminent, citing European and U.S.
− Security Council emergency meeting on the strike, held at the request of Russia, Ukrainian Ambassador Andrii Melnyk denied his Russian counterpart's accusations of war crimes, calling them a "pure propaganda show" and asserting that the May 22 operations "exclusively targeted the Russian war machine."
Ukraine and its allies have accused Russia of routinely targeting civilians and key civilian infrastructure since the early days of the war. The Kremlin denies this.
+ intelligence.
− Russia says the Oreshnik is immune to any missile defense system
Russia first used the multiple-warhead Oreshnik on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro in November 2024.
+ State of the World from NPR 40 years after families survived the Chernobyl accident, they face war In a video posted to social media on Sunday, Zelenskyy said an Oreshnik missile hit Bila Tserkva, a city about 50 miles south of Kyiv.
− It was used a second time in January in the western Lviv region.
+ It's the third time Russian forces have used this missile during its full-scale war on Ukraine.
− The latest combined attack included 600 strike drones and 90 air, sea and ground-launched missiles, according to Ukraine's Air Force.
+ "They really are unhinged," Zelenskyy said.
In a statement on Telegram, Russia's defense ministry confirmed it had used the Oreshnik.
− Ukrainian air defenses destroyed and jammed 549 drones and 55 missiles. Around 19 missiles failed to reach targets, the Air Force said.
+ In 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the missile travels "like a meteorite," cannot be stopped by air defense and can obliterate underground bunkers.
− Earlier, Zelenskyy warned that Russia was planning to use the Oreshnik, citing intelligence from the U.S.
+ Putin ordered Russia's military to retaliate after blaming Ukraine for a drone strike on Friday on a college in the town of Starobilsk in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine.
− and Western partners.
+ Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations said on Saturday that at least 21 were killed and 42 injured.
− President Vladimir Putin earlier said the Oreshnik, which means "hazelnut tree" in Russian, streaks at 10 times the speed of sound, or Mach 10, and is capable of destroying underground bunkers "three, four or more floors down."
The weapon travels "like a meteorite" and is immune to any missile defense system, Putin said, adding that several such missiles, even fitted with conventional warheads, could be as devastating as a nuclear strike.
+ Ukraine denies targeting the college.
− Air raid sirens blared through the night as smoke billowed across the city from strikes.
+ Negotiations to end Russia's war on Ukraine have stalled as the U.S.
− Associated Press reporters heard powerful explosions near the city center and close to government buildings.
+ is distracted by its own war, waged with Israel, on Iran. The Trump administration has also loosened some sanctions on Russian oil exports to make up for energy shortfalls amid the war with Iran.
− Kyiv residents who have stayed until now consider relocating
Damage was recorded in 40 locations across several districts of the capital, including residential buildings, Kyiv military administration head Tymur Tkachenko said in a Telegram post.
+ Oil, a pillar of the Russian economy, helps fuel the war on Ukraine.
− "It was a terrible night, and there had never been anything like it in the entire war," said Kyiv resident Svitlana Onofryichuk, 55, who had worked in the market that was damaged for 22 years.
"I am very sorry that I have to say goodbye to Kyiv now, I am not staying there anymore, there is no possibility," she added.
+ Ukrainian forces have used long-range drone strikes for weeks to successfully damage oil refineries and depots inside Russia as well as ports where oil is exported.
− "My job is gone, everything is gone, everything has burned down."
Yevhen Zosin, 74, a Kyiv resident who witnessed the attack, said the moment he heard the explosion he rushed to grab his dog.
+ They have also damaged Russian logistics and ammunition hubs in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine.
− "Then there was another explosion and she and I were thrown back like a pin by the shock wave.
+ State of the World from NPR A Ukrainian mayor, released from captivity, returns to a radically different city NPR recently joined a Ukrainian military unit that launches long-range drones made by Ukraine into Russia.
− We both survived, she and I.
+ A member of the unit who uses the military callsign Uki watched one of the drones flying into the night sky.
− My apartment was blown to pieces," he said.
+ (At the request of Ukraine's military, which cites security reasons, NPR identifies soldiers by first name or callsign).
− In Kyiv's Shevchenko district, a five-story residential building was hit, which caused a fire, and one person was killed, Ukraine's state emergency service reported.
+ "This is how Ukraine can impose effective sanctions to force Russia into a just and lasting peace," he said.
− A school building was damaged by an attack while people sheltered inside, Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said. Local authorities reported supermarkets and warehouses across the city also were damaged.
+ NPR producer Polina Lytvynova contributed to this report.
− Multiple communities recorded damage throughout the Kyiv region, according to Mykola Kalashnyk, the regional governor.
Elsewhere, a Ukrainian drone killed a civilian in the Russian town of Grayvoron, in the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, local authorities reported on Sunday morning.
Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces shot down or jammed 33 Ukrainian drones overnight into Sunday, including over the Moscow region, western and southwestern Russia, and Russian-occupied Crimea.