Russia launches largest drone attack since 2022, killing woman near Ukraine’s Kyiv

Ukrainian authorities have said that the Ukrainians endured the largest Russian drone attack since the start of the full-scale war in 2022, with one woman killed and at least three people injured in the Kyiv region. 

The wave of strikes came shortly after peace talks between the two countries ended without agreement, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

By 08:00 a.m. (GMT+3), Russia had fired 273 drones, primarily targeting the central Kyiv region and the eastern Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions, according to Ukraine’s air force. The scale of the attack surpassed the previous record of 267 drones launched on February 23, the day before the invasion’s third anniversary.

This latest assault follows the failed negotiations in Istanbul on May 16 — the first direct contact between Ukraine and Russia in three years. Though the 100-minute discussion did not yield a ceasefire, both sides agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war. US President Donald Trump announced plans to speak separately with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on May 19. The sustained drone barrage overnight killed a 28-year-old woman and wounded three others, including a 4-year-old child, in the Kyiv region, officials confirmed. 

"Unfortunately, as a result of the enemy attack in the Obukhiv district, a woman died from her injuries," said Mykola Kalashnik, governor of the Kyiv region, in a statement posted on Telegram.

Air raid sirens rang out for nine hours across Kyiv and eastern Ukraine, finally lifted around 09:00 a.m. (GMT+3). Ukraine’s military reported multiple engagements by air defence forces during the night. "It's been a tough night. The Russians have always used war and attacks to intimidate everyone in negotiations," said Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s Centre for Countering Disinformation, in a Telegram post. 

Ukraine’s air force reported that 88 drones were shot down. An additional 128 decoy drones, described as simulators, were launched by Russia but failed to hit any targets. The drone assault followed a deadly strike on May 17 in the northeastern Sumy region, where nine civilians died when a drone hit a shuttle bus. President Zelenskyy labeled the incident "deliberate" and demanded stronger international sanctions against Moscow. Russia claimed it had targeted a military site. Kalashnik said all those injured in the Obukhiv district had been hospitalized, and several residential buildings in the area were damaged. 

In Kyiv, drone debris damaged the roof of a non-residential building, but no injuries were reported, the city’s military administration said on Telegram. Though both nations insist they do not target civilians, thousands of non-combatants—primarily Ukrainian—have died since the conflict escalated in 2022.

By Naila Huseynova