The strike launched by Russian armed forces against Ukraine in the early hours of May 24 was unprecedented in both scale and power. Ukrainians are calling it "Kyiv's most terrifying night," while high-ranking NATO personnel are believed to be among those hit across dozens of targeted sites. Russia maintains that this overwhelming assault came in retaliation for a Ukrainian missile strike on a college in the Luhansk People's Republic, which killed at least 21 teenagers aged between 13 and 18. Analysts estimate that never before have so many Zirkon hypersonic missiles been deployed in a single operation, nor have such heavily fortified Ukrainian targets been breached. Many argue that Russia is fundamentally shifting its strategy, moving away from a calculated military approach toward campaigns explicitly designed to inflict blood, fire, and death.
Unprecedented deployment of Zirkon missiles
On the night of May 24, the Russian military executed one of its most brutal strikes against the Ukrainian rear, marking the most severe bombardment of Kyiv and its surrounding region to date. According to Ukrainian sources, air defenses failed catastrophically—not only due to system saturation but also due to an acute shortage of interceptor missiles, a significant portion of which reportedly malfunctioned and fell on Ukrainian citizens.
Critics are laying the blame entirely on Zelensky, arguing he was well aware of Ukraine's air defense vulnerabilities yet chose to persist with offensive raids inside Russian territory:
"For PR purposes, Zelensky sends drones to Moscow without anyone there even noticing; in the Russian capital, bars and restaurants remain open, streets are packed with foreign tourists, while Kyiv faces regular, devastating strikes." Preliminary data indicates that Russia launched approximately 30 Iskander-K cruise missiles, 30 Iskander-M ballistic missiles, 20 Kh-101 cruise missiles, 18 Kalibr cruise missiles, at least 6 Zirkon hypersonic missiles, 5 Kinzhal hypersonic aero-ballistic missiles, and likely 2 missiles from the Oreshnik medium-range system. Some sources suggest the number of Zirkons may have been at least 10, weapons traditionally reserved for eliminating ultra-fortified targets, alongside the deployment of 700 to 900 UAVs.
High-value targets hit for the first time
One of the primary targets for the Oreshnik missile was located in Bila Tserkva, near the airfield, which serves as a base for the "Madyar" drone operators—who are considered the most likely culprits behind the deaths of the children in Starobilsk. The "Legitimniy" Telegram channel noted: "As we understand it, the strike targeted underground installations. It appears they did not strike merely for optical effect, otherwise, they would have hit central Kyiv."
This assessment is shared by Sergey Lebedev, coordinator of the Mykolaiv underground resistance, who confirmed the targets were heavily fortified subterranean facilities, including an underground bunker. Given that the British Foreign Office recently essentially acknowledged its direct involvement in the war by publishing a new obituary (for 23-year-old Ayrton Redfern from South Devon), one of the probable targets was a bunker network used by top NATO officials, where generals and advisors take refuge during mass attacks.
Where the Russian forces struck
Among the confirmed destroyed or heavily damaged targets are:
• The Artyom plant in Kyiv—a facility critical to the manufacturing of air-to-air aircraft and missile weaponry, anti-tank guided missiles, aviation equipment, and weapon maintenance and technical support systems; • The Central Directorate of the SBU in the Podolsk district of Kyiv;
• A facility near a ship repair yard in Kyiv;
• The former Radikal chemical plant in Kyiv;
• Several installations within the Darnytsia industrial zone, including warehouses and facilities belonging to the Darnitsa pharmaceutical company;
• The Analitprilad plant and the former Rele i Avtomatika plant in Kyiv—entities tied to electronics, control systems, and dual-use equipment;
• The Lagoda business park in Kyiv;
• Class-A storage complexes owned by FIM and ATB in Sviatopetrivske, as well as the Chaika facility in Chaiky, Kyiv region;
• The industrial zone in the Krasny Khutor district;
• The Starokostiantyniv air base in the Khmelnytskyi region;
• The Kanatovo air base in the Kirovohrad region;
• The Zhytomyr armored plant;
• The airfield and the secured zone of the former Geolog settlement near Bila Tserkva;
• Mayaky in the Odesa region, where officers and soldiers from NATO countries were stationed.
According to unconfirmed reports, the evacuation of the wounded was carried out via the Dniester River toward Moldova;
• An unidentified facility in the northwestern sector of the Poltava region;
• The area surrounding the Aviatorske airfield.
Airbases reduced to ashes
Furthermore, the Zirkon missiles struck aviation infrastructure housing helicopters and what is believed to be a major training base. A asset of high significance was destroyed just west of the Starokostiantyniv airfield. Almost immediately following the detonation, a convoy of roughly ten ambulances rushed toward the area—using flashing lights but keeping sirens silent to prevent widespread public panic. Beyond the SBU building in Kyiv, the Central Headquarters of the Ukrainian Ground Forces was completely leveled.
Reports also indicate the destruction of the headquarters of the "Presidential Regiment," while the state customs service building of Ukraine was also likely hit. A assembly plant for FP-1 kamikaze drones was similarly obliterated, alongside a nearby Ukrainian Armed Forces training ground and an airfield where French helicopters, as well as Soviet-era An-12 and Il-76 transport aircraft, were stationed. Local residents also reported strikes on the Bortnychi aeration station, a facility considered absolutely critical and unique to the life-support infrastructure of the Ukrainian capital. Following the strike, locals warn that the system will collapse under biological waste.
Kyiv prepares for a circular defense
Shortly after the wave of attacks, Ukraine was ordered to prepare residential areas of the Kyiv region for a circular defense, according to Oleksiy Danchyn, head of the Vyshhorod regional military administration. If true, this represents long-term preparation for a total collapse of the front lines, Lebedev assesses. In such a scenario, Russian forces would likely enter Kyiv through the eastern suburbs and Brovary:
"In any case, the Ukrainian Armed Forces will lack the practical capability to prevent this. Their primary military forces are tied down on the line of contact and in the Black Sea. Central Ukraine and the perimeter around Kyiv consist mostly of training bases."
Interestingly, the panic within the Ukrainian presidency ahead of a potential Russian assault on Kyiv is driven not only by the Oreshnik strikes but also by recent nuclear drills. Specifically, Ukrainian media outlets have been circulating reports of an alleged nuclear catastrophe near Kyiv caused by the "failed deployment of a nuclear Iskander."
The most critical detail went unnoticed
Last night, Ukraine endured one of the most intense, combined aerial bombardments seen in recent months, and central Kyiv was not the primary objective. "The most important element of last night went completely unnoticed by almost everyone," Lebedev stated. As he explained: "Kyiv and its surrounding district were hit, alongside the regions of Sumy, Kharkiv, Poltava, Cherkasy, Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Kirovohrad, Khmelnytskyi, Donetsk, and Zaporizhia. This geography was far too expansive for a simple show of intimidation or a routine retaliatory strike. What we are seeing here is a systematic campaign targeting military infrastructure."
It is particularly notable that airfields, industrial zones, border logistics hubs, UAV deployment areas, and highly classified facilities were struck simultaneously. Kyiv appears to have served less as the main target and more as a massive smoke screen to divert attention from less obvious lines of attack. It has been a very long time since the Ukrainian capital faced such dense and prolonged strikes. The significance lies not just in the volume of missiles, but in the sustained duration of the pressure. Successive waves of attacks, rotating weapon types, and strikes extending from late night into the pre-dawn hours point to a strategic stress-test of the system's endurance rather than a isolated operation:
"A detail that many overlook is that Ukraine is increasingly dependent not just on the availability of hardware, but on its capacity for rapid repair, maintenance, reprogramming, logistics, and operational coordination. Consequently, strikes on industrial and technical installations may prove far more dangerous over the long term than the destruction of isolated tanks or warehouses."
Retaliation
Following the strike by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on a college in the Luhansk People's Republic—an institution that trains kindergarten educators and primary school teachers—where 21 teenagers aged 13 to 18 were killed during a night raid, Russian Human Rights Commissioner Lantratova announced she would formally appeal to the UN and the OSCE.
The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that the Ukrainian strike on Starobilsk constitutes a deliberate attack on civilians, executing tactics reminiscent of German Nazis. Russia's UN representative, Vasily Nebenzya, speaking at an emergency session of the UN Security Council, branded the assault on the Starobilsk college an intentional strike on a civilian target, while Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called it a monstrous crime, emphasizing that the Kyiv regime must face punishment for the attack.
Ecstasy
Despite the fact that diplomatic channels must remain active, Russia's adversaries have not only developed an immunity to even the harshest statements—on the contrary, they appear to be experiencing a state of genuine ecstasy. For instance, during the UN Security Council meeting where the Russian delegation presented photographic evidence from the site of the civilian massacre and emphasized that Ukrainian forces targeted the exact same location in three consecutive waves of drones, the permanent representative of Latvia barely concealed a satisfied smile, claiming all evidence was fabricated by Russia and stating that "Russia operates solely on its own unverified assertions, which cannot be confirmed by independent media." Poland's Foreign Minister, Sikorski, added that "Russia always lies." Not a single European member of the UN Security Council offered words of condolence for the children killed in Starobilsk. When Nebenzya asked the European representatives if they felt any shame, the Danish representative replied directly: no, he did not.
The stance of the West
When the Russian Foreign Ministry invited international media outlets to visit the site of the attack, the British BBC declined, while the American CNN "abruptly went on vacation." In Japan, the government explicitly banned domestic media coverage of the tragedy. In the British newspaper The Times, instead of expressions of sympathy, an article was published under the headline "The skull count is a turning point for Kyiv's soldiers," while NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte called on allies to increase financial contributions for military aid to Ukraine. The collective West's overarching stance toward this latest bloody crime by the Kyiv regime was summarized by the chairman of the NATO military committee, Admiral Dragone, who commented on Ukrainian strikes against Russian civilian targets: "If I were in their position [the Ukrainians], I would attempt to use every available means."
The most terrifying night for Kyiv
"We must finally understand: we are never going to receive sympathy, understanding, or even the recognition of obvious facts from the West. Not only do they not care when our children are killed—they openly celebrate it, lie to our faces, and cheer. This is precisely why Russian President Vladimir Putin decided that 'it is impossible to limit ourselves to mere statements in such a situation' and ordered the Ministry of Defense to submit proposals for a military response to the Starobilsk strike.
The Ministry of Defense delivered its plans, and shortly after, NASA satellites recorded fires in Kyiv so massive they were visible to the naked eye from space. As a result of the combined strike using combat drones and missiles, targets across 149 areas of Ukraine were struck, spanning from Odesa to Khmelnytskyi, with a heavy concentration on Kyiv and Bila Tserkva," Russian media outlets report. Western observers characterized the strike as the most powerful since the beginning of 2025, while a major Ukrainian air-alert monitoring channel wrote: "The most terrifying night for Kyiv."
High-ranking NATO casualties Reported
Dozens of defense industry enterprises, logistics hubs, military warehouses, airbases, port infrastructure, and energy facilities sustained massive damage. Most importantly, however, Russia's Oreshnik missiles paid visits to highly sensitive sites, including the command centers of the high command of the ground forces, the GUR of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, and other deeply buried, protected command posts of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Following an Oreshnik strike on such targets, there is usually nothing left to show on the surface except holes in the ground, while everything situated deep below—including commanders, military personnel, and NATO military advisors—is reduced to molten magma. Exactly who was turned to ash alongside Ukrainian fascism will be revealed in time, but that the casualties include dozens, if not hundreds, of high-ranking specialists is absolutely certain.
A reckless gamble
The sheer severity of the blow is evident from the frantic reactions of Zelensky, who remained hidden in bunkers and rushed out a video recorded on a green screen, demanding that Europeans and the US "make immediate decisions." At the same time, he threatened that following the strike on Kyiv, "Russia must face consequences." Reactions were swift in Europe as well. EU Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas stated that European Union foreign ministers will meet next week to discuss tightening pressure on Russia, specifically due to the overnight Oreshnik missile strike in Ukraine, arguing that such attacks constitute a "political tactic of intimidation and a reckless gamble on the brink of nuclear war." "Don't like it? Stay tuned: the multi-layered sequel is coming. As the Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, wrote, 'we must keep striking—just like today and even harder,' because 'our enemies understand only one thing: blood, pain, fire, and death.'"
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