Kyiv (Ukraine): Russia launched a massive wave of drone attacks against Ukraine overnight, according to officials in Kyiv. This escalation occurred just hours after a three-day, US-mediated ceasefire expired, casting a shadow over recent diplomatic efforts to end the hostilities. The truce, which spanned from May 9 to May 11, was timed to coincide with the anniversary of the Soviet victory in the Second World War. While President Donald Trump had expressed hope that the temporary halt in fighting might be extended to foster a more permanent peace after four years of conflict, the return of large-scale aerial strikes suggests a significant setback for those aspirations.
The Ukrainian air force reported that Russia deployed 216 drones starting Monday evening, with 192 of those being successfully intercepted or neutralized by air defence systems. Despite this high interception rate, several drones reached their targets or caused substantial damage through falling debris. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that the strikes targeted a wide range of civilian infrastructure across multiple regions, including energy facilities, apartment complexes, and a kindergarten. Zelenskyy characterized the offensive as a deliberate choice by Moscow to end the brief period of relative silence that had persisted during the short-lived truce.
In the capital city of Kyiv, falling debris from a neutralized drone ignited a fire on the roof of a 16-storey residential building in the northern Obolon district. Regional officials also reported that a kindergarten roof was set ablaze in the surrounding Kyiv region, where nearby residential windows were shattered by the force of the blasts. Similar scenes of destruction were reported in the Cherkasy and Zhytomyr regions, where cars and homes were damaged. In the south and southeast, strikes hit transport infrastructure in Dnipro and energy facilities in Mykolaiv, with the latter resulting in significant power outages across several settlements.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha confirmed that at least one person was killed and six others were injured in the overnight raids. He emphasized that Kyiv had formally proposed an extension of the partial ceasefire beyond the May 11th deadline, but he argued that Moscow chose to escalate instead of continuing the pause. The shelling of Kherson further added to the casualty count, with local officials reporting a woman wounded in that city. As the conflict resumes its high intensity, the brief window of de-escalation appears to have closed, leaving the future of US-led peace negotiations in a precarious state.
