Russia has launched one of the biggest aerial attacks on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv since the start of the war, using missiles and drones, hours after the two sides began exchanging hundreds of prisoners of war in a deal seen as the first step towards a ceasefire. Russian strikes killed at least twelve people in Ukraine overnight on Sunday, with four deaths in the Kyiv region, Ukrainian officials said.
Russian troops, who are advancing slowly on the eastern front in Ukraine, have captured two settlements in Donetsk region as well as one in Ukraine's northern region of Sumy, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Saturday. Since their failed advance on Kyiv in the first weeks of the war, Russian forces have been focusing on capturing the Donbas in the east, made up of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Ukrainian forces likely struck Russia's Migalovo Airbase tonight, with multiple explosions spotted in the area.
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) May 25, 2025
The base is home to a number of Russian heavy transport aircraft. pic.twitter.com/70nE1A4m6o
Ukraine's air force said Russia had launched 298 drones and 69 missiles in its overnight assault, although it said it was able to down 266 drones and 45 missiles. Damage extended to a string of regional centres, including Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, as well as Mykolaiv in the south and Ternopil in the west.
🇺🇦🇷🇺 DEATH FROM ABOVE: RUSSIA STRIKES UKRAINE AGAIN
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) May 25, 2025
For the second night in a row, skies over Ukraine lit up—not with fireworks, but with drones and missiles.
Kyiv woke up to flames and broken glass after a Russian drone slammed into a five-story apartment building, injuring… https://t.co/lic1ZtUfla pic.twitter.com/vxTafqKs8B
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said 12 people had been killed and 60 more wounded. Earlier death tolls given separately by regional authorities and rescuers had put the number of dead at 13.
Another night of Russian terror across Ukraine.
— Anna K 🇺🇦 (@AnnaKozyarska) May 25, 2025
Missiles and drones struck Kyiv, the Kyiv region, Mykolaiv, Khmelnytskyi, Chernihiv, and more.
Civilians killed. Homes destroyed. Families pulled from the rubble.
This is not war. It's terrorism. And it must end.
Russia… pic.twitter.com/FMD0pikmkn
Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the city's military administration, said that some of the drones over Kyiv and the surrounding area have already been dealt with. But the new ones are still entering the capital, Kyiv. Overnight attacks were also reported in the Kherson region.
This was the second large aerial attack in two days. On Friday evening, Russia launched dozens of drones and ballistic missiles at Kyiv in waves that continued through the night.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it was a "difficult night for all of Ukraine" and called for more sanctions on Moscow to achieve a ceasefire. But he also said he expected officials to press on with a prisoner swap agreed during talks last week in Istanbul.
The latest offensive comes as the two sides pursue their biggest prisoner swap since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
On Saturday, 307 Russian prisoners of war were exchanged for the same number of Ukrainian soldiers, according to announcements in Kyiv and Moscow.
Both sides received 390 people in the first stage on Friday and are expected to exchange 1,000 each in total.
Russia has signalled it will send Ukraine its terms for a peace settlement after the exchange, without saying what those terms would be.
Meanwhile, Russia has also accused Ukraine of targeting it with 788 drones and missiles since Tuesday. In Moscow, restrictions were imposed on at least four airports, including the main hub Sheremetyevo, the Russian civilian aviation authority said. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 12 drones flying towards the Russian capital had been intercepted.
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