Russian Missiles and Drones Strike Kyiv and Other Ukrainian Cities, Killing at Least Four

A massive Russian drone and missile attack on Ukraine began before dawn on Thursday, May 14, 2026, demolishing a nine-story apartment block in Kyiv's Darnytsia neighborhood and killing four people. Authorities said 33 others were wounded in the apartment block strike, all 18 apartments were destroyed, and at least 10 people remained missing.

Emergency workers rescued 28 residents from the rubble, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.

More than 30 people were wounded at the site of the blast in the Darnytsia apartment block. Damage was recorded across six districts of Kyiv, according to Tymur Tkachenko. As dawn broke on a clear day, wisps of smoke rose from the debris of the collapsed corner building while emergency crews dug under concrete slabs and carried people away on gurneys.

M. “Then the house shook violently and there was a loud bang, breaking the glass in my house,” she told The Associated Press. Another local resident, Nadiia Lobanova, said it was a terrible night.

“We’re used to this, well, it’s impossible to get used to this, but somehow we held on,” she told AP. The Ukrainian cities of Kremenchuk, Bila Tserkva, Kharkiv, Sumy and Odesa were targeted in the bombardment, officials said. Twenty-eight people were wounded in Kharkiv, including three children, regional head Oleh Syniehubov said.

Strikes on energy infrastructure left customers in Kyiv and 11 other regions temporarily without power, Ukrenergo reported. Air defenses shot down or jammed 693 Russian targets overnight, including 41 missiles and 652 drones, Ukraine’s air force said. Fifteen missiles and 23 drones scored direct hits across 24 locations while debris from downed drones fell across an additional 18 locations.

Russia fired ballistic and cruise missiles in the mass attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. Moscow had launched more than 1,560 drones against Ukrainian population centers since the start of Wednesday, Zelenskyy added. The attack was the third straight day of large-scale Russian aerial attacks following a May 9-11 ceasefire.

A rare daytime attack on Kyiv on Wednesday killed at least six people and involved 800 drones striking about 20 regions of Ukraine. Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said Ukraine is experiencing the largest strikes since the start of the full-scale invasion. He added that Ukrainian air defense forces are under severe strain.

The war began with Moscow's all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Ukrainian officials noted that the attack coincided with President Donald Trump’s trip to China for a summit. Andrii Sybiha said that at the time when leaders of the most powerful countries are meeting in Beijing, Putin launched hundreds of drones, ballistic and cruise missiles at the capital of Ukraine.

U.S. and Chinese leaders had sufficient leverage to compel Russia to end the war.