Massive Ukraine Assault: Russia Unleashes Nuclear-Capable Missile

In a devastating overnight attack, Russia launched a massive assault on Ukraine, resulting in the loss of at least four lives and injuring dozens more, according to Ukrainian authorities. The attack, which occurred on Sunday, May 24, saw hundreds of drones and missiles pounding the city of Kyiv, forcing residents to scramble into underground shelters as explosions rocked the capital. Ukrainian officials reported that the assault included the use of Moscow's nuclear-capable hypersonic Oreshnik missile, marking one of the heaviest bombardments of the war. As the city struggled to come to terms with the scale of the destruction, emergency crews battled fires and combed through rubble left behind by strikes that damaged residential buildings, schools, shopping centers, theaters, museums, and universities. Ukraine's air force claimed that Russia launched around 600 drones and 90 missiles during the attack, with 549 drones and 55 missiles intercepted. The attack sent shockwaves across the city, with 21-year-old Sofia Melnychenko describing scenes of panic inside a metro station after nearby explosions caused parts of the ceiling to crumble. 'There was complete chaos. Children started screaming, people were panicking,' she told AFP, describing the night as 'very frightening.' The strikes came days after Russian President Vladimir Putin warned of retaliation following Ukrainian drone attacks in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine that Moscow says killed 21 people, many of them students housed in a vocational school dormitory in Starobilsk. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the barrage, accusing Russia of deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure. 'Russia is genuinely deranged,' Zelensky wrote on Telegram, citing damage to a water facility, schools, and residential areas, as well as the reported launch of the Oreshnik missile toward Bila Tserkva, southwest of Kyiv. Russia's defense ministry confirmed it had used the Oreshnik missile for only the third time since the start of the war, saying the strike was carried out 'in response to Ukraine's terrorist attacks on civilian infrastructure on Russian territory.' Moscow insisted it had targeted Ukrainian military and intelligence command posts and denied deliberately striking civilians. The attack also caused international fallout, with Albanian authorities summoning the Russian ambassador after the residence of Albania's envoy in Kyiv was damaged. German broadcaster ARD said its Kyiv studio building was also hit. European leaders sharply condemned the assault, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen describing the strikes as 'terror against civilians,' while French President Emmanuel Macron said the barrage demonstrated 'the dead end of Russia's war of aggression.' German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called the use of the Oreshnik missile a 'reckless escalation.' The conflict has shown no signs of abating, with efforts led by the United States to broker an end to the conflict slowing in recent months, and diplomatic focus increasingly shifting toward tensions in the Middle East.