KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that a Russian missile strike on a nine-story apartment block in Kyiv the previous day killed 24 people, including three children. Emergency crews completed digging through the rubble after more than a day of search-and-rescue operations, Zelenskyy said on X.
The cruise missile struck a corner block of the building during what the Ukrainian air force described as Russia’s largest aerial barrage since the full-scale invasion began. The assault focused mainly on Kyiv; Zelenskyy said 48 people were wounded in the capital, including two children.
Zelenskyy reported that Moscow launched more than 1,560 drones against Ukrainian population centers beginning Wednesday, damaging about 180 sites across the country. Among the damaged locations were more than 50 residential buildings, he said. Previously, the largest Russian drone attack occurred March 23–24, when nearly 1,000 drones and missiles were fired at Ukraine.
The attacks came in the days after a May 9–11 ceasefire that U.S. President Donald Trump said he had asked Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin to observe. Fighting continued over those 72 hours, though reportedly at a reduced intensity.
Zelenskyy said Ukrainian experts who examined the wreckage found the cruise missile that hit the apartment building had been manufactured in the second quarter of this year. He argued that the finding showed Russia was still importing components and equipment needed to produce missiles, in circumvention of international sanctions, and called for partners to make stopping sanctions evasion a priority.
Kyiv observed an official day of mourning Friday to remember those killed in the strike.
Separately, Russia and Ukraine completed a prisoner exchange Friday, with 205 prisoners returned to each country. Zelenskyy said this was the first phase of a planned 1,000-for-1,000 swap; some of the Ukrainians freed had been held since 2022 and had fought in major battles of the war. Russia’s Defense Ministry confirmed the exchange and thanked the United Arab Emirates for helping to broker the deal.