Russia launches heavy missile strikes on Kyiv after Ukraine drone attack

A large ballistic missile attack pounded Kyiv early on Sunday local time, authorities said, wounding at least five people after Moscow threatened retaliation for strikes in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine. Loud explosions were heard in the Ukrainian capital, causing a residential building near the government district to shake, while dozens took shelter in an underground metro station in the city center, according to Agence France-Presse journalists. "The capital has come under a mass ballistic missile attack," Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, wrote on Telegram. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said five people had been wounded and one of them was hospitalized. Residents take shelter in a metro station in central Kyiv during a Russian air attack on the Ukrainian capital early on May 24, 2026. Ania TSOUKANOVA /AFP via "There are currently reports of at least 4 locations affected by the attack: Shevchenkivsky, Dniprovsky and Podilsky districts. Fires and damage to residential buildings are preliminarily reported," Tkachenko said. "A strike drone attack is ongoing; the ballistic missile threat remains present. Stay in shelters!" Ukrainian authorities and the U.S. Embassy had earlier warned of a possible significant attack on the capital after Russia said it would "punish" those responsible for deadly strikes in a part of eastern Ukraine under its control. …