Russian Strike on Kyiv Apartment Building Kills 24 as Ukraine and Russia Complete 205-for-205 Prisoner Swap

A Russian cruise missile struck a nine-story apartment building in Kyiv on May 14, 2026, killing 24 people including three children. Emergency workers finished digging through the rubble after more than one day of effort. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the site on May 15 as the capital observed an official day of mourning.

The assault that mostly targeted Kyiv wounded 48 people, including two children. In all, some 180 sites across Ukraine were damaged, including more than 50 residential buildings. Zelenskyy said Moscow had launched more than 1,560 drones against Ukrainian population centers since Wednesday as of May 14.

The Ukrainian air force described the Russian assault on May 14, 2026, as the biggest barrage of Ukraine since the all-out invasion. It surpassed the previous largest attack, which occurred from the evening of March 23 to the evening of March 24 and involved nearly 1,000 drones and missiles. The cruise missile that hit the apartment building was built in Q2 2026.

Zelenskyy posted on X about the missile attack, the completion of rubble clearance and the missile’s manufacture date. “This means Russia is still importing the components, resources, and equipment necessary for missile production in circumvention of global sanctions,” he said.

U.S. President Donald Trump asked Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin to observe it. Fighting continued during that period on a lesser scale. The war between Russia and Ukraine is in its fifth year as of May 2026.

On the same day as the mourning in Kyiv, 205 Ukrainian prisoners of war and 205 Russian prisoners of war returned home. Zelenskyy said the prisoner exchange on May 15, 2026, was the first phase of a planned 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner swap. Some of the released Ukrainians had been held in Russian captivity since 2022 and had fought in some of the war’s fiercest battles.

Russia’s Defense Ministry confirmed the prisoner exchange. It said the United Arab Emirates helped broker the deal. Ukraine’s Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko and Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko visited the damaged apartment building in Kyiv on May 15, 2026, walking through its yard amid the debris as rescue workers stood nearby and a woman laid flowers at a neighboring damaged house.