Kyiv struck by fierce Russian drone, missile barrage hours after landmark prisoner swap

As hundreds of soldiers and civilians are exchanged in a rare moment of cooperation, Kyiv reels under a brutal overnight attack — underscoring the relentless violence amid stalled peace talks.

In the early hours of May 24, Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, was rocked by a massive Russian drone and missile assault, sending residents scrambling for shelter amid the thunderous explosions and machine-gun fire that echoed across the city. The relentless barrage shattered the fragile calm that had briefly emerged just hours earlier, following a major prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine.

This first phase of the swap, agreed upon during a tense Istanbul summit last week, saw hundreds of soldiers and civilians returned to their homelands — a rare glimpse of cooperation in a war that has now stretched into its third brutal year. Yet the attack on Kyiv starkly highlighted how far the path to peace remains.

Debris from intercepted drones and missiles rained down on at least four districts, according to Tymur Tkachenko, acting head of Kyiv’s military administration. Six people were injured, and fires erupted in the Solomianskyi district as city officials warned of more than 20 strike drones heading toward the capital. Drone fragments struck a shopping mall and a residential building in the Obolon district, with emergency teams rushing to contain the damage.

Despite the violence, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed the prisoner swap as a significant step forward, with 390 Ukrainians returning home in the first tranche. Over the weekend, thousands more are expected to be exchanged, making it the largest such operation of the conflict. The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed it received the same number of detainees from Ukraine, with released Russians transported to Belarus for medical treatment.

Emotional reunions unfolded as freed prisoners arrived, their families desperately seeking news amid a sea of photographs and heartfelt cries. Nataliia Mosych, clutching a picture of her husband, shouted his name with tearful relief. Yet, even as the exchanges brought momentary hope, the front lines remained fiercely contested, with heavy fighting continuing along the 1,000-kilometer battlefield.

Diplomatic efforts have shown little sign of progress. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called the swap a “confidence-building measure,” but Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov cautioned that no agreement had been reached on the next round of talks.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov promised a draft peace proposal once the exchange concluded, but skepticism remains high among European leaders, who accuse Moscow of delaying genuine peace initiatives while pressing military gains.

The Istanbul meeting exposed the deep chasm between the two sides, with Ukraine and its Western allies insisting on a temporary ceasefire as an essential first step—an offer Russia has yet to accept. As Kyiv reels from the overnight assault, the grim reality is clear: peace remains elusive, even as the human cost mounts ever higher.