Kyiv/Moscow,, May 15 (SANA) Russia launched one of its deadliest attacks on Kyiv in recent months overnight, killing at least 24 people, including three children, and injuring 47 others, according to Ukrainian authorities, as both sides intensified aerial attacks amid stalled efforts to end the conflict.
Emergency crews continued searching through the rubble of a collapsed residential building in Kyiv’s southeastern Darnytskyi district on Friday after the overnight bombardment, which Ukrainian officials described as among the most severe strikes on the capital in recent months.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko declared an official day of mourning in the city, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a Russian missile had “wiped out an entire residential building from the first to the ninth floor.”
Zelenskyy said Russia had launched more than 1,560 drones in less than 24 hours, adding that the scale of the attacks showed the war was “not nearing its end.”
Ukraine’s air force said Russia fired 675 drones and 56 missiles during the assault, adding that air defense systems intercepted 652 drones and 41 missiles.
Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its air defenses shot down 355 Ukrainian drones overnight over nearly 15 Russian regions and Crimea.
The ministry said the attacks mainly targeted the border regions of Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk, as well as the Moscow region.
Russian authorities also reported that three people were killed and 12 injured in Ukrainian strikes on the city of Ryazan, southeast of Moscow.
The latest escalation came days after a three-day ceasefire announced during Russia’s Victory Day commemorations marking the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.
Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of violating the truce, which was reached with U.S. mediation efforts, before daily attacks resumed after it expired.
Western leaders condemned the latest Russian strikes, with French President Emmanuel Macron saying the escalation reflected Moscow’s inability to end the war, while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Russia was relying on escalation rather than negotiations.
A senior Ukrainian official said the timing of the attacks coincided with a summit in Beijing between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, after Zelenskyy had called on both leaders to discuss ways to end the war.
In southern Ukraine, Zelenskyy said a United Nations vehicle was hit by Russian drones without causing casualties, describing the incident as a sign of the widening scope of attacks.
The renewed escalation and lack of progress in negotiations have heightened international concerns that the conflict could enter a more dangerous phase, with no clear signs of a political settlement to end one of Europe’s deadliest wars in decades.
R.K
