30 drones, 37 cruise missiles shot down overnight in Ukraine

ussia launched up to 40 cruise missiles and 35 attack drones in the overnight attack, Ukraine's Air Force reported on May 29.

Ukraine’s air defense successfully intercepted 29 Shahed kamikaze drones, one reconnaissance drone, and 37 Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles.

According to the Air Force, up to 40 Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles were launched from Tu-95 bomber planes from the direction of the Caspian Sea, while Shahed-136/131 drones conducted 35 strikes from the northern and the southern directions.

Air raid alerts were activated early on May 29 in all Ukrainian oblasts. Air defense was at work in Odesa, Vinnytsia, Poltava, Lviv, and Khmelnytskyi oblasts.

Kyiv experienced Russia's 15th air assault on the city in May, marking the second consecutive overnight attack of similar intensity. No significant damages or casualties were reported in Kyiv.

From the 67 targets shot down overnight, up to 40 were downed over the capital alone.

Another missile strike in Kyiv

Missile strikes were reported in the capital at 11 a.m. local time by the Kyiv Regional Military Administration, leaving one person injured so far.

Following an air raid siren, several explosions were heard in the city as air defense was activated. Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported burning missile fragments falling on a road in the northern Obolonskyi district.

According to the mayor, emergency services were sent to the site to contain the damage and put out the burning debris. Missile fragments also fell in the Podilskyi district, causing fire on the roof of a two-story building and leaving one injured, who was then hospitalized, Klitschko wrote on Telegram.

In the Desnyanskyi district, explosions were also reported as air defense was activated in the area. Concurrently, an air raid siren sounded also in central, northern, and southern oblasts.

83 children were killed, and 986 injured due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine

As a result of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, at least 483 children were killed and 986 were injured, the General Prosecutor’s Office reported on May 29 with reference to juvenile prosecutors.

These numbers are not final as investigations continue, specifically in the areas where hostilities are taking place. To this day, there are 394 children reported missing.

From the total number of 1,469 dead and wounded, 462 underage causalities were reported in Donetsk Oblast, 278 from Kharkiv Oblast, 128 in Kyiv Oblast, 102 in Kherson Oblast, 91 in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, 89 in Mykolaiv Oblast, 72 in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, 70 in Chernihiv Oblast, and 67 in Luhansk Oblast.

Children are among the most vulnerable groups in Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. On May 26, Donetsk Regional Administration reported that 128 children had to be evacuated due to active hostilities.

Apart from physical threats due to Russian attacks, over 19,000 children have been abducted by the Russian authorities. The kidnapped children are submitted to re-education to instill “pro-Russia patriotic values" and "assigned" to Russian adoptive and foster families.

The Ukrainian government and non-governmental institutions are working on their safe return. According to the "Children of War" database, so far only 371 of them have been safely returned to their families.

Russian forces attack Kharkiv Oblast, injuring 7 people

Russia shelled two villages in the Kupiansk district of Kharkiv Oblast on May 29, injuring at least seven people, including the elderly, children, and a pregnant woman, Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported on Telegram.

A strike against the village of Kivsharivka wounded three elderly women aged 73, 85, and 90, a pregnant woman, and two children aged 14 and 10.

Furthermore, a dormitory building, two private houses, and a gas pipeline were damaged in the village. Officials released conflicting information on what weapon system did Russia use.

While the governor wrote the village was possibly struck by a ballistic Iskander missile, the Prosecutor's Office suggested that according to preliminary information, Russia used an FAB-250 guided aerial bomb. The shelling of Hlushkivka, another village in the Kupiansk district, left one 60-year-old woman injured.

All the victims have been hospitalized and emergency services are on site, Syniehubov wrote. Kharkiv Oblast suffered heavy shelling over the past day. Russian strikes against settlements in Kharkiv, Kupiansk, Chuhuiiv, and Izium districts injured two civilians and caused property damage.