Russia launched one of the largest combined missile and drone attacks of the full-scale war against Kyiv overnight on May 23–24, 2026, deploying a weapons package that included its most advanced hypersonic ballistic missile for the third time, killing at least four people across Ukraine and injuring nearly 100 — with the capital alone absorbing more than 80 casualties and damage at 49 confirmed sites. For Kyiv, it was the single most destructive strike of the entire war measured by number of locations hit.
The Strike: Scale and Timing
Ukraine’s Air Force confirmed that Russian forces launched a total of 90 missiles and 600 drones — 690 aerial assets in all — in an attack that began at approximately 18:00 on May 23 and continued through the early morning hours of May 24. Journalists on the ground in the capital reported the first major wave of wall-shaking explosions at approximately 1:00 a.m., followed by sustained, repeated strikes between 3:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. as Russia delivered successive waves of ballistic and cruise missiles.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed damage “in every district of the city” — including central areas that historically escape the worst of Russian mass attacks. Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, stated explicitly that the strike was the largest against Kyiv measured by the number of sites damaged in the entire four-year war.
Weapons Systems Deployed
Russia’s Defense Ministry confirmed in a Telegram statement that the attack employed the following weapons systems:
Oreshnik (RS-26 Rubezh derivative / 9M370) An intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) launched from the Kapustin Yar site in Russia’s Astrakhan region. President Zelenskyy confirmed its use; the Russian MoD confirmed it as well. This was the third confirmed Oreshnik deployment of the full-scale war. The missile struck Bila Tserkva, approximately 80 kilometers south of Kyiv. Vladimir Putin has described the Oreshnik as traveling “like a meteorite” and uninterceptable by current air defense systems; military analysts speaking to Novaya Gazeta Europe cautioned that the weapon remains “raw” and cannot yet reliably hit its targets. Exact unit cost is classified; defense analysts estimate each missile at $30 to $50 million, based on comparable Russian IRBM program costs.
Iskander-M (9M723) air-launched ballistic missiles Russia’s primary precision ballistic weapon, with a range of approximately 500 kilometers and a 500-kilogram payload. Procurement records obtained by Militarnyi show the Iskander-M family was contracted at $2.4 to $3 million per unit across 2024–2025.
Kinzhal (9-S-7760) hypersonic air-launched ballistic missiles Air-launched from MiG-31K aircraft, reaching Mach 5.5 in midcourse. The Russian MoD confirmed Kinzhal use in the attack. Unit procurement cost based on 2024–2025 contracts: approximately $4.5 million per missile.
Tsirkon (3M22 Zirkon) cruise missiles A dual-capable anti-ship and land-attack system. Annual delivery contracts for 2024–2026 place the unit cost at $5.0 to $5.6 million per missile.
Shahed-type strike drones and decoy UAVs The bulk of the 600-drone component consisted of Iranian-designed Shahed-136/131 variants manufactured in Russia, supplemented by decoy drones used to saturate and exhaust Ukrainian air defense. Unit cost per Shahed: approximately $50,000.
The combined cost of the attack — across 90 missiles of mixed types and 600 drones — almost certainly exceeded $500 million, though exact figures depend on the classified distribution of missile types within the 90-missile package.
Casualties
Killed (Kyiv city): 2 — both women, aged 44 and 86, recovered from the rubble of a destroyed section of a five-story residential building in Shevchenkivskyi district
Killed (Kyiv Oblast): 2 additional fatalities
Total killed (Ukraine-wide): 4, confirmed by Zelenskyy
Injured (Kyiv city): 91, including three children; 21 hospitalized as of the morning of May 25, including two children
Critical condition: 3
Damage: City-Wide
Ukrainian authorities confirmed damage at 49 locations across Kyiv — the highest single-attack count of the full-scale war. Struck or damaged structures included:
Government and institutional buildings:
Cabinet of Ministers (government headquarters) — blast wave shattered windows; second time damaged in the war, the first having been September 2025
Ministry of Foreign Affairs building — window and facade damage; Minister Sybiha confirmed it was the first time the MFA building sustained damage since World War II
Ukrposhta (national postal service) headquarters on Independence Square
Cultural institutions:
National Art Museum of Ukraine — blast wave damage; collection reported intact
Kyiv Opera Theater
Ukrainian House cultural center
Valeriy Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium
Chornobyl Museum — Interior Ministry reported over 40% of the collection “irrevocably lost”; rescuers saved a Maria Prymachenko painting and the Ukrainian flag planted at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant after its 2022 liberation
Residential:
Approximately 30 residential buildings damaged or destroyed in Kyiv alone, including a five-story building in Shevchenkivskyi district (partial structural collapse)
A 9-story residential building in Shevchenkivskyi struck by drone; fire between 8th and 9th floors; one fatality
A dormitory in Darnytskyi district
Schools:
Two schools in Shevchenkivskyi district struck; at one, blast wave and debris blocked a basement shelter entrance with people sheltering inside
Commercial:
Multiple warehouses, a supermarket and shopping center, an office center, a service station, a garage, and parked vehicles across various districts
In Kyiv Oblast, projectiles struck communities in Fastiv, Bucha, Brovary, Bila Tserkva, Vyshhorod, and Boryspil — hitting residential buildings, homes, garages, utility buildings, and a warehouse.
Culture Minister Tetyana Berezhna stated the attack damaged the largest number of cultural institutions in Kyiv since Russia’s 2022 invasion.
Lukianivska: Ground-Level Damage
The Lukianivka neighborhood — one of the densest residential districts in Kyiv, anchored by the Lukianivska metro station — sustained some of the most concentrated and visible destruction of the entire attack.
Kvadrat Shopping and Entertainment Center: A direct missile strike hit the multi-story Kvadrat mall near Lukianivska metro station. The building was engulfed in flames and virtually destroyed. Footage published by RBC-Ukraine and Censor.NET showed a charred structural shell, debris fields, and the remnants of signage. Nothing of the interior remained intact.
Lukianivskyi Market: A fire broke out across the adjacent Lukianivskyi market. RBC-Ukraine correspondents on scene reported gas cylinders exploding periodically in the market area. Photographs showed only ash where market kiosks had stood.
Lukianivska Metro Station: The blast wave from strikes in the immediate area damaged the station’s above-ground entrance vestibule. The Kyiv City State Administration confirmed the station was temporarily closed for repairs, with no restart timeline given at time of publication. The Heavenly Hundred Heroes Alley entrance at Khreshchatyk station was also temporarily closed.
Military and political analyst Oleksandr Kovalenko told Novaya Gazeta Europe that the damage around Lukianivska was among the worst of any single location in the attack. “This was a combined attack — a mass strike using both missiles and multiple types of drones,” Kovalenko said. “The last attack of this kind took place on 18 May. Russia has been spacing these strikes about a week apart.”
A business center near Lukianivska was also completely destroyed, along with the adjacent market. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that among the destroyed sites was a cafe that had reopened six times after previous Russian strikes.
Residential buildings in Lukianivka sustained partial structural collapse, with windows blown out and emergency services responding through the morning.
The Azerbaijan Embassy, located in the Lukianivka area, sustained damage; the Embassy confirmed it in a statement.
Context
The attack came despite ongoing — if halting — international diplomatic pressure for a ceasefire. Russia framed the strike as retaliation for Ukrainian attacks on civilian infrastructure in Russian-occupied territory, per a Russian MoD Telegram statement. Ukraine and its allies rejected the framing; European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the attack evidence of the Kremlin’s “brutality and disregard for both human life and peace negotiations.”
Ukraine called emergency meetings of both the United Nations Security Council and the OSCE following the strike. Foreign Minister Sybiha directed all Ukrainian diplomatic missions to “make full use of the multilateral toolbox” in response.
Poland’s Air Force scrambled Polish and allied fighter jets in response to activity approaching Polish airspace.
Explosions were also reported in Cherkasy, Kropyvnytskyi, and Khmelnytskyi Oblast during the same attack window.
Verification Notes
Ukrainian Air Force missile and drone count (90 missiles / 600 drones) sourced from official Air Force Telegram channel
Casualty figures are drawn from Kyiv Mayor Klitschko’s Telegram, the State Emergency Service, and President Zelenskyy’s confirmed public statements
49-site damage figure sourced from Ukrainska Pravda citing State Emergency Service and Tymur Tkachenko
Oreshnik use confirmed by both President Zelenskyy (Telegram, May 24) and Russian Ministry of Defense statement
Lukianivska damage sourced from RBC-Ukraine, Censor.NET, NV Ukraine, and Novaya Gazeta Europe
Missile unit costs drawn from Militarnyi procurement analysis and UNITED24 Media cost breakdown (October 2025); Oreshnik cost is analyst estimate, not official procurement figure
Weapon type identification sourced from Russian MoD statement; Ukrainian Air Force Telegram
This article reflects information available as of May 26, 2026. The story is developing and damage assessments may be revised.
Chris Sampson is Editor-in-Chief of NatSecMedia and host of The Wire Tap on Substack. He has been based continuously in Kyiv since January 31, 2022, and holds Ukrainian military press accreditation.
