At Least 15 Injured, Damage Reported in at Least Six Districts
Ukraine Launches Mass Drone Attacks Against Russia
Russia launched a large-scale airstrike on Kyiv just hours after a prisoner exchange with Ukraine.
According to foreign media outlets such as the Associated Press on May 24 (local time), the Ukrainian military reported that Russia launched 14 ballistic missiles and 250 drones overnight between May 23 and 24. Of these, Ukraine said it shot down 6 missiles and neutralized 245 drones.
Debris from the intercepted missiles and drones fell in at least six districts of Kyiv, causing significant damage or fires in several apartment buildings and injuring at least 15 people. In addition, AFP reported, citing officials, that Russian airstrikes on Kharkiv and Donetsk killed five civilians.
President Zelensky announced via X (formerly Twitter) that there was also damage in Odesa, Vinnytsia, Sumy, and Dnipro.
President Zelensky stated, "With every such attack, the world becomes more convinced that it is Moscow that is prolonging the war," and added, "Ukraine has proposed many ceasefires, but they have been ignored."
He further emphasized, "To draw conclusions and begin genuine diplomacy, much stronger pressure must be applied to Russia," and stressed, "Only with additional sanctions against the key sectors of the Russian economy will Moscow agree to a ceasefire."
On May 16, Russia and Ukraine agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners each during negotiations held in Istanbul, T?rkiye. On this day, both sides exchanged 390 prisoners each. Both countries confirmed that this was the first phase of the prisoner exchange and that exchanges would continue over the next several days.
Ukraine is also continuing drone strikes against Russia. On this day, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that overnight, there were Ukrainian airstrikes mainly targeting the Belgorod region, and that 94 drones were intercepted. In recent days, Ukraine has launched a total of about 800 drones targeting Moscow and other parts of Russian territory, continuing its attacks.
As Ukrainian drones have been threatening Russia around the clock in recent days, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated the previous day that Russia would respond to these Ukrainian attacks.
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