Russia hits Ukraine with mass drones, missile bombardment in the middle of an exchange of prisoners
London – Russian drones and missiles again bombarded cities in Ukraine on Saturday night until Sunday morning despite an exchange of ongoing prisoners that will be the largest of the 3 -year war.
The operational command of the Armed Forces in Poland, a NATO nation that limits Ukraine towards the West, said in a Sunday morning to X that their combat planes were scrambled during the Russian attack. “An intensive activity of the long -range aviation of the Russian Federation, associated with attacks carried out in objects located, among others, in the western territory of Ukraine,” said the statement.
The Ukraine Air Force told Telegram that Russia launched a total of 367 “air attack vehicles”, including nine Iskander Balistic missiles, 56 cruise missiles, four guided air missiles and 298 attack drones, in the objectives of the entire country.
The Air Force said that 45 cruise missiles and 266 drones were demolished or neutralized during the attack.
“Most of the Ukraine regions were affected by the enemy attack,” the Air Force wrote, with strikes reported in 22 locations and cruise missiles or strike drones reported in 15 locations.
The Ministry of Interior of Ukraine said in a statement that at least 12 people were killed, including three children of the same family, and more than 60 wounds. More than 80 residential buildings were damaged and 27 registered fires, he added.
Emergency workers extinguish fires in the rubble of a house that was destroyed in a russian rocket strike in Markhalivka, in the kyiv region of Ukraine, on May 25, 2025.
Thomas Peter/Reuters
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on social networks on the early Sunday: “Today, rescuers have been working in more than 30 Ukrainian cities and villages after Russia’s mass strike.”
“These were deliberate attacks in common cities,” Zelenskyy continued. “Ordinary residential buildings were destroyed and damaged. In kyiv, the bedrooms of the University History Department were beaten. There were also attacks in companies. Tragically, people were killed, including children.”
The last attack marks the fourth consecutive night during which Russia launched more than 100 missiles and drones to Ukraine, according to figures of the Ukraine Air Force. Although long -range attacks have occurred almost every night in recent months, recent Russian bombings have been notable for their scale.
Ukraine also continues with his own attacks by Drones to Russia, and the Ministry of Defense in Moscow informs that the fall of 110 Ukrainian drones during the night until Sunday.
The bombings arrived despite the beginning of a process of exchanging prisoners of several days on Friday. It is expected that some 1,000 troops from both sides will be exchanged, and the process will continue until Sunday, said Zelenskyy.
The exchange of prisoners, once completed, will be the largest since Moscow’s invasion began in February 2022. Russia and Ukraine have changed to prisoners of war throughout the conflict, despite not agreeing a high durable fire.
The peace conversations negotiated in the United States since the return of President Donald Trump in January in January has also not reached an agreement, with kyiv and Moscow accusing each other of undermining negotiations.
Ukraine demands a high fire of 30 days, during which peace conversations may take place. Zelenskyy has repeatedly ruled out the territory by giving Moscow in any peace agreement.
Trump’s threats to new sanctions to Russia, are not yet made despite the Ukrainian and European appeals for greater American pressure on President Vladimir Putin, do not seem to have moved away the Kremlin from their maximalist war objectives, which essentially equals the Ukrainian capitulation.
An explosion of a drone illuminates the sky on kyiv, Ukraine, during a Russian attack on May 25, 2025.
Gleb Garanich/Reuters
These demands include the annexation of four partially occupied Ukrainian regions, plus the retention of Crimea, which Russia seized in 2014, the demilitarization of kyiv, a permanent block in Ukrainian adhesion to NATO and the “desnazification” of the country, a nebula demand based on the false representation of Russia of the Ukrainian government as an extreme dictature.
Ukrainian leaders have cited the continuous mass attacks in Russia as evidence that Moscow is not genuine in their peace appeals.
“Each Russian terrorist strike is a sufficient reason for new sanctions against Russia,” Zelenskyy said Sunday. “Russia is dragging this war and continues to kill every day. The world can go a weekend break, but the war continues, regardless of weekends and week days. This cannot be ignored. The silence of the United States, the silence of others worldwide only fosters Putin.”
“Without a really strong pressure on Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped,” he added. “The sanctions will certainly help. Determination matters now: the determination of the United States, European countries and all those who are in the world seeking peace. The world knows all the weaknesses of the Russian economy.”
“The war can be stopped, but only through the necessary pressure force on Russia,” Zelenskyy said. “Putin must be forced to think not to launch missiles, but in finishing the war.”
Andriy Yermak, the head of the Zelenskyy office, wrote on Telegram on the early Sunday: “Instead of a high fire, there are murders.”
“Without pressure, nothing will change and Russia and its allies will only increase forces for such murders in western countries,” Yermak continued. “Moscow will fight whenever you have the ability to produce weapons.”
