Russia Launches Massive Multi-Vector Strike on Ukraine
In the early hours of 24 May, Russia conducted one of its largest combined missile-and-drone attacks in months against Kyiv and multiple regions across Ukraine. The assault, which began before dawn and continued into the morning, left at least dozens injured, destroyed a major shopping center in Kyiv, and heavily tested Ukrainian air defenses.
Key Takeaways
- Between late night 23 May and the early morning of 24 May 2026, Russia launched a large, multi-vector strike on Ukraine, heavily focusing on Kyiv and its region.
- Ukraine’s Air Force reports 90 missiles and around 600 attack drones were used, with 55 missiles and 549 drones reportedly intercepted.
- Civilian infrastructure in Kyiv, Cherkasy and other cities was hit, including a major shopping mall, residential buildings, a supermarket, and a water-supply facility.
- Russia employed an RS-26 "Oreshnik" medium-range ballistic missile against the Bila Tserkva area in Kyiv Oblast, launched from the Kapustin Yar test range.
- Ukrainian leadership is calling for stronger international consequences against Russia, arguing that strategic missiles are being used primarily against civilian targets.
From late on 23 May into the early hours of 24 May 2026, Russian forces executed a large-scale coordinated missile and drone strike across Ukraine, with the main effort directed at the capital, Kyiv, and surrounding regions. Initial operational tallies released around 07:00–07:10 UTC on 24 May indicate that Russia fired 90 missiles of various types and approximately 600 attack drones in one of the heaviest single-night barrages in recent months.
Ukraine’s Air Force, reporting around 07:03–07:08 UTC, said Russia used one RS-26 "Oreshnik" intermediate-range ballistic missile, two Kh-47M2 Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles, three 3M22 Zircon cruise missiles, about 30 Iskander-M/S-400 ballistic missiles, roughly 54 Kh-101/Iskander‑K/Kalibr cruise missiles, and 600 unmanned aerial vehicles. Ukrainian air defenses claim to have shot down or suppressed 55 of the 90 missiles and 549 drones. Independent observers note that some Russian missiles did not reach their intended targets, adding complexity to kill-rate estimates.
Despite the substantial interception rate, the barrage inflicted notable damage. By around 05:40–06:10 UTC, reports from Kyiv described drones striking a supermarket in the Desnianskyi district and residential buildings in Obolonskyi, Dniprovskyi, and Pecherskyi districts. Fires broke out in apartments and private houses during what city officials called one of the largest attacks on Kyiv and its region since the full-scale invasion began. The Kvadrat shopping center in the Lukianivka area was reported fully burned out, with emergency crews still clearing debris as of roughly 07:00 UTC.
Casualty figures evolved through the morning. At around 06:07–06:10 UTC, Kyiv authorities recorded one dead and 44 injured, including three in serious condition. Later updates noted at least two dead and rising numbers of wounded in Kyiv Oblast. In Cherkasy, a Russian drone strike injured 11 people, including two children, and ignited fires in apartments from the 5th to 9th floors of a nine-story residential building. Nationwide, President Volodymyr Zelensky said around 08:00 UTC that at least 83 people had been injured since the start of the day, highlighting three Russian missiles targeting a water-supply facility, a burned market, dozens of damaged residential buildings, and several affected schools.
A particularly sensitive aspect of the strike was Russia’s confirmed use of the RS‑26 "Oreshnik" ballistic missile against Ukrainian territory. Around 07:01–07:03 UTC, Ukraine’s Air Force communications chief confirmed that Russia launched an Oreshnik from the Kapustin Yar test range toward the Bila Tserkva area in Kyiv Oblast. Both Ukrainian and Russian sources converged on the assessment that only one Oreshnik was used, targeting what is believed to be an airbase or related infrastructure. There is no indication that this missile carried a nuclear warhead; Russian military commentators acknowledged a purely conventional kinetic strike.
Russian narratives frame the operation as punitive retaliation for Ukrainian deep strikes on Russian territory and occupied areas, including attacks on energy and logistics infrastructure and a deadly drone strike in Starobilsk. Russian officials and pro-government voices have openly described the night’s action as part of a broader effort to impose costs on Ukraine’s leadership and demoralize the civilian population.
Zelensky, speaking around 08:00 UTC, condemned the attack as further evidence that Russia is using high-end missiles primarily to terrorize cities rather than achieve decisive military gains. He called for concrete responses from the United States, Europe, and other partners, implicitly pressing for more advanced air-defense systems, tighter sanctions, and fewer constraints on Ukraine’s ability to strike military targets deep inside Russia.
Outlook & Way Forward
In the short term, Ukraine will prioritize damage assessment, emergency response, and rapid restoration of critical services, particularly water and electricity in affected districts. Air-defense commanders will analyze radar tracks and debris to refine engagement tactics against mixed salvos of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and massed drones. International partners are likely to accelerate deliveries of interceptor missiles, drone-jamming systems, and radar upgrades in response to the scale of the attack.
Strategically, Russia’s use of an RS‑26 Oreshnik in a conventional role serves both as weapons testing under combat conditions and psychological signaling. While it does not cross any declared Western red lines on nuclear employment, it underscores Moscow’s willingness to employ systems associated with strategic arsenals in a theater context. This raises pressure on Ukraine’s partners to consider whether existing air- and missile-defense packages are adequate for the evolving threat profile, including potential follow-on uses of advanced hypersonic and quasi-ballistic systems.
Going forward, analysts should watch for: any pattern of repeated Oreshnik use; shifts in Russian targeting priorities toward critical infrastructure versus purely civilian objects; and adjustments in Ukrainian counter-strike doctrine, especially against Russian launch platforms and command-and-control nodes. If Russia maintains this intensity of long-range strikes, Ukraine’s stockpile of interceptors will come under strain, making resupply timetables and production ramp‑ups in partner countries a central variable in the conflict’s trajectory through the rest of 2026.
Sources
- OSINT