Kyiv comes beneath large-scale Russian drone and missile assault; explosions heard all through metropolis

Firefighters go water to one another after a Russian assault in Kyiv, Ukraine, on May 24, 2025.
| Photo Credit: AP

Ukraine’s capital Kyiv got here beneath a large-scale Russian drone and missile assault early Saturday (May 24, 2025) with explosions and machine gun hearth heard all through town, forcing many Kyiv residents to take shelter in underground subway stations.

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The nighttime Russian assault got here hours after Russia and Ukraine began a major prisoner exchange, swapping a whole lot of troopers and civilians within the first part of an trade that was agreed on by the 2 sides at a gathering in Istanbul final week. The settlement was a second of cooperation in in any other case failed efforts to achieve a ceasefire within the three-year-old conflict.

The particles of intercepted missiles and drones fell in not less than 4 metropolis districts of the capital early Saturday (May 24, 2025), performing head of Kyiv navy administration, Tymur Tkachenko, wrote on Telegram. According to Mr. Tkachenko, six folks required medical care after the assault, two fires sparked at Solomianskyi district of Kyiv.

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Prior to the assault, metropolis mayor Vitalii Klitschko warned Kyiv residents of greater than 20 Russian strike drones heading in the direction of Kyiv. As the assault continued, he stated drone particles fell on a shopping center and a residential constructing in Obolon district of Kyiv. Emergency companies had been headed to the positioning, Mr. Klitschko stated.

The prisoners swap Friday (May 23, 2025) was the primary part of an advanced swap involving the trade of 1,000 prisoners from both sides.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated the primary part introduced residence 390 Ukrainians, with additional releases anticipated over the weekend that may make it the biggest swap of the conflict. Russia’s Defence Ministry stated it obtained the identical quantity from Ukraine.

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As the freed males entered the medical facility Friday (May 23, 2025), folks holding indicators and photographs of their relations shouted names or brigade numbers, in search of any information of a beloved one. The returning males inspected the photographs, and a serviceman stated he shared a cell with a type of on the ocean of portraits held out towards him.

“Vanya!” cried Nataliia Mosych, among the many gathered relations, “My husband!”

She hadn’t seen her husband, Ivan, for nearly two years, she stated, beaming.

“It is an unbelievable feeling. I am still in shock,” Mosych stated after he got here exterior to greet his household following registration procedures inside the power. “I am really glad, and we were not forgotten, and we still mean something for Ukraine.”

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The trade, which might be the newest of dozens of swaps because the conflict started and the largest involving Ukrainian civilians at one time, didn’t herald any halt in combating.

Battles additionally continued alongside the roughly 1,000-kilometer entrance line, the place tens of 1000’s of troopers have been killed, and neither nation has relented in its deep strikes.