Russian aerial attack in Kyiv Oblast killed 3 and injured 10, including children

Russia’s large-scale aerial assault on May 25 killed three people and injured 10 others, including two children, in Kyiv Oblast, according to regional Governor Mykola Kalashnyk.

The overnight attack saw Russia launching missiles and drones across all regions of Ukraine. It marked the second consecutive night of mass aerial strikes targeting Kyiv and other cities.

Kalashnyk reported that three people were killed in Kyiv Oblast. He said that the bodies of two victims were discovered after first responders extinguished a fire in the Obukhiv district, and another fatality occurred in the Bucha district.

He also confirmed that two other individuals were wounded in the Bucha district. Six additional injuries were recorded in the Bila Tserkva district, including two children. In the Fastiv district, two women sustained injuries during the attacks.

Emergency services were reportedly working at the sites of the strikes.

Across Ukraine, the attacks continued into the morning hours, with explosions reported in Kyiv, Odesa, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Konotop, Chernihiv, and Kharkiv.

The previous night, another large-scale Russian aerial strike had also injured three civilians in Kyiv Oblast.

Over 300 POWs brought back to Ukraine as the third part of 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner swap completed

On 25 May, Ukraine and Russia carried out the third phase of the agreed thousand-for-thousand prisoner exchange, which had been negotiated in Türkiye. A total of 303 Ukrainian defenders were released from Russian captivity.

Sources: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy; Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that soldiers from Ukraine’s Armed Forces, National Guard, State Border Guard Service, and State Transport Special Service were returning home.

The Coordination Headquarters reported that the released individuals included servicemen from various branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including the Navy, Air Force, Air Assault Forces, and Territorial Defence Forces. Personnel from the National Guard, State Border Guard Service, and the State Transport Special Service were also among those freed, including 70 defenders of Mariupol.

All the released individuals are men holding the ranks of privates and sergeants. They had been defending Ukraine in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, as well as in the regions of Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Kherson, Sumy, and Chernihiv.

During negotiations in Istanbul, the Russian representatives actually denied the existence of Ukrainians

During peace negotiations in Istanbul, the Russian delegation categorically rejected Ukraine’s proposal for an unconditional ceasefire and denied the very existence of the Ukrainian nation, Ukrainian officials have reported.

Serhiy Kyslytsia, the First Deputy Head of Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that a shocking remark was made during the negotiations. According to him, the head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, referred to the war as an "internal conflict," claiming it was essentially “Russians killing Russians, with certain nuances.”

Kyslytsia explained that, at one point during the discussions, while the Ukrainian delegation — composed of military representatives — was present, Medinsky remarked that the war was, in fact, a situation where Russians were killing Russians. Kyslytsia noted that such a statement effectively denied Ukraine’s status as an independent nation and dismissed the Ukrainian identity altogether.

The diplomat emphasized that the Russian representatives essentially declared that Ukrainians do not exist as a separate people — only as "Russians." He said that the message conveyed to the Ukrainian delegation was, “You are not Ukrainian; you are Russian, and we are simply killing you — Russians killing Russians.” Kyslytsia described this rhetoric as a direct attack on Ukraine’s national identity.

Furthermore, he noted that the Russian delegation arrived in Istanbul without any mandate that allowed for the possibility of agreeing to a ceasefire. He said it was evident that the Russian side had a clear position outlining why a ceasefire was "categorically unacceptable" to them. According to Kyslytsia, their instructions likely did not include any flexibility for reaching an agreement on halting hostilities. He recalled that the Russians repeated several times during the negotiations that an unconditional ceasefire was out of the question.

US silence encourages Putin - Zelensky after massive Russian attack

Following a deadly overnight attack on May 25, President Volodymyr Zelensky called for tougher sanctions on Russia and stated that the silence of the United States and other countries around the world was only encouraging Russian President Vladimir Putin.

According to Ukraine’s Air Force, Russia had launched 69 missiles and 298 drones overnight. The attack resulted in the deaths of 12 people, including three children, and left more than 60 injured, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko reported.

Zelensky said that rescuers had been deployed in over 30 Ukrainian towns and villages in response to the large-scale attack. The Air Force confirmed that more than 22 direct strikes were recorded, while additional areas suffered from falling debris.

In a post on Telegram on May 25, Zelensky emphasized that, without substantial pressure on Russia’s leadership, such brutality would continue. He asserted that sanctions would certainly be effective in this regard.

He added that the world was aware of the vulnerabilities of the Russian economy and claimed that the war could be stopped—but only through strong and sustained pressure on Moscow. He argued that Putin must be forced to consider ending the war rather than continuing missile strikes.

Russian and Ukrainian officials had met in Istanbul on May 16 for the first direct talks in three years, but the discussions ended without any agreement on a ceasefire.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov later confirmed, on May 21, that Moscow was no longer interested in agreeing to a ceasefire in Ukraine, stating that Russia did not want one anymore.

Ukraine had also experienced one of the most intense strikes of the war just the previous night.

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