Russia launches war's largest drone attack, says Ukraine
Published: 04:05 PM,May 18,2025 | EDITED : 08:05 PM,May 18,2025
Resident Vadym Tsybenko, 22-year-old, stands next to his house and a house of his neighbours, heavily damaged by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, outside of Kyiv, Ukraine May 18, 2025. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
KYIV: The largest known Russian drone attack since full-scale war began in 2022 killed a woman in the Kyiv region and injured at least three people, Ukrainian authorities said early on Sunday, as Moscow stepped up strikes following peace talks on Friday. Russia launched 273 drones by 8 am local time, targeting chiefly the central Kyiv region and the Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions in the country's east, Ukraine's air force said. Based on data provided by the air force, this was Russia's largest drone attack on Ukraine of the war. On the eve of the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale attack on Ukraine on February 23, Moscow launched a then-record 267 drones.
The first direct talks in three years between Russia and Ukraine on Friday failed to broker the temporary ceasefire Kyiv and its allies have been urging. The 100 minutes of talks in Istanbul yielded an agreement to trade 1,000 prisoners of war on each side. US President Donald Trump said he would speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday.
The overnight Russian drone attack on Sunday killed a woman in the capital region and injured at least three people, including a 4-year-old child, Ukrainian authorities said. 'Unfortunately, as a result of the enemy attack in the Obukhiv district, a woman died from her injuries,' Mykola Kalashnik, governor of the Kyiv region, posted on Telegram. Kyiv and the region around it as well as the eastern part of Ukraine were under raid warnings for nine straight hours overnight before they were called off at around 9 am local time. Air defence units were engaged several times trying to repel attacks, the military said on Telegram. 'It's been a tough night. The Russians have always used war and attacks to intimidate everyone in negotiations,' Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine's Centre for Countering Disinformation, said on Telegram about Sunday's attack. Air defence units destroyed 88 of the drones overnight. The attack also included 128 simulator drones that were lost along the way without hitting anything, Ukraine's air force said in a statement on Telegram.
On Saturday, a Russian drone attack killed nine civilians after hitting a shuttle bus in the Sumy region in northeastern Ukraine, Kyiv said. Zelensky called the attack 'deliberate' and urged stronger sanctions on Moscow, which said it had attacked a military facility. All of those injured in the Obukhiv district just south of Kyiv city were hospitalised, Kalashnik said. Several residential buildings were damaged in the area, he added. In the city of Kyiv, fragments of a destroyed drone damaged the roof of a non-residential building, the city's military administration said on Telegram. There were no reports of injuries, it added. Witnesses in and around Kyiv heard blasts that sounded like air defence units in operation. There was no immediate comment from Russia.
Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war, but thousands have been killed in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian.
Ukraine's military intelligence agency also said on Sunday Russia planned to conduct a 'training and combat' launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile to intimidate Ukraine and the West. The overnight launch was ordered to be implemented from Russia's Sverdlovsk region, the GUR agency said in a statement on the Telegram app. It added the flight range for the missile was more than 10,000 kilometers. 'In order to demonstratively pressure and intimidate Ukraine, and also EU and Nato member states, the aggressor state of Russia intends to make a ‘training and combat’ launch of the RS-24 intercontinental ballistic missile from the Yars complex,' GUR said in the statement. There was no immediate comment from Russia on the Ukrainian military intelligence statement. Russia does not answer questions about its plans to test launch nuclear missiles, the details of which it classifies as a military secret, although it issues statements after such launches. More than three years into the war against Russia, Ukraine is under enormous pressure as Russia seeks frontline gains in the Ukrainian east, and diplomatic efforts to end the war have so far yielded no results. — Reuters
The first direct talks in three years between Russia and Ukraine on Friday failed to broker the temporary ceasefire Kyiv and its allies have been urging. The 100 minutes of talks in Istanbul yielded an agreement to trade 1,000 prisoners of war on each side. US President Donald Trump said he would speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday.
The overnight Russian drone attack on Sunday killed a woman in the capital region and injured at least three people, including a 4-year-old child, Ukrainian authorities said. 'Unfortunately, as a result of the enemy attack in the Obukhiv district, a woman died from her injuries,' Mykola Kalashnik, governor of the Kyiv region, posted on Telegram. Kyiv and the region around it as well as the eastern part of Ukraine were under raid warnings for nine straight hours overnight before they were called off at around 9 am local time. Air defence units were engaged several times trying to repel attacks, the military said on Telegram. 'It's been a tough night. The Russians have always used war and attacks to intimidate everyone in negotiations,' Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine's Centre for Countering Disinformation, said on Telegram about Sunday's attack. Air defence units destroyed 88 of the drones overnight. The attack also included 128 simulator drones that were lost along the way without hitting anything, Ukraine's air force said in a statement on Telegram.
On Saturday, a Russian drone attack killed nine civilians after hitting a shuttle bus in the Sumy region in northeastern Ukraine, Kyiv said. Zelensky called the attack 'deliberate' and urged stronger sanctions on Moscow, which said it had attacked a military facility. All of those injured in the Obukhiv district just south of Kyiv city were hospitalised, Kalashnik said. Several residential buildings were damaged in the area, he added. In the city of Kyiv, fragments of a destroyed drone damaged the roof of a non-residential building, the city's military administration said on Telegram. There were no reports of injuries, it added. Witnesses in and around Kyiv heard blasts that sounded like air defence units in operation. There was no immediate comment from Russia.
Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war, but thousands have been killed in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian.
Ukraine's military intelligence agency also said on Sunday Russia planned to conduct a 'training and combat' launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile to intimidate Ukraine and the West. The overnight launch was ordered to be implemented from Russia's Sverdlovsk region, the GUR agency said in a statement on the Telegram app. It added the flight range for the missile was more than 10,000 kilometers. 'In order to demonstratively pressure and intimidate Ukraine, and also EU and Nato member states, the aggressor state of Russia intends to make a ‘training and combat’ launch of the RS-24 intercontinental ballistic missile from the Yars complex,' GUR said in the statement. There was no immediate comment from Russia on the Ukrainian military intelligence statement. Russia does not answer questions about its plans to test launch nuclear missiles, the details of which it classifies as a military secret, although it issues statements after such launches. More than three years into the war against Russia, Ukraine is under enormous pressure as Russia seeks frontline gains in the Ukrainian east, and diplomatic efforts to end the war have so far yielded no results. — Reuters