The aftermath of the Russian attack on Kyiv. Source: State Emergency Service of UkraineThe Russian Armed Forces launched a large-scale attack on Kyiv and other regions of Ukraine overnight into Sunday, May 24. Several residential buildings in Kyiv were damaged, and fires broke out in apartment blocks in several districts as a result of the strikes. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko initially reported at least 69 people injured and two killed. Ukraine’s State Emergency Service later updated the count to 87 injured, including three children. Strikes were also reported in the Kyiv Region. According to Russian pro-war blogs and Ukrainian open source intelligence (OSINT) resources (1, 2, 3), the region may have been struck by an intermediate-range Oreshnik ballistic missile. The Ukrainian project Oko Hora ✙ News and Analytics said it was the third strike since the start of the war involving such a missile without a warhead. It identified the Bila Tserkva cargo airfield as the likely target. Before the May 23 strike, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote, citing Western intelligence, that Ukraine could face a massive attack that night, potentially involving the Oreshnik missile:“We are preparing our air defenses as much as possible and will respond entirely fairly to every Russian strike. We gave permission for the parade, but Russia was given no permission for madness,” he wrote.The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) later confirmed the Oreshnik strike. Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said the target was Bila Tserkva.President Zelensky addressed the nation following the overnight attacks, naming Kyiv as the main target of the attacks:“Vladimir Putin can no longer even pronounce the word ‘hurrah’ properly — he slurs it — yet he is still ‘defeating’ residential buildings with his missiles. Three Russian missiles against a water supply facility, a market burned down, dozens of residential buildings damaged, several ordinary schools hit. He launched his ‘Oreshnik’ against Bila Tserkva. They are truly deranged.”Four people were killed as the result of the strikes, Zelensky reported in a separate post.The Russian Ministry of Defense described the strikes on Ukrainian cities as a “retaliatory” for the Ukrainian UAV attack on the dormitory and an academic building of the Starobilsk College of the Luhansk Pedagogical University in the occupied Luhansk Region, adding that the Oreshnik, Iskander, Kinzhal, and Tsirkon missiles were used in the attack. The Russian bombardment overnight May 24 caused the most extensive damage to Kyiv’s cultural institutions since the start of the war, Ukrainian Culture Minister Tetyana Berezhna wrote on Facebook. She listed the cultural sites that sustained the heaviest damage.The National Art Museum of UkraineThe National Chornobyl MuseumThe National PhilharmonicThe National Music AcademyThe Yaroslav Mudryi National Library of UkraineKyiv OperaExperts are working at multiple sites to assess damage to the cultural and architectural monuments. Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs said the Russian strike overnight May 24 irreversibly destroyed 40% of the exhibits at the National Chornobyl Museum. The ministry said rescuers spent more than 15 hours extinguishing fires and were still dismantling hazardous structures after the attack.“Russia systematically strikes at the culture and spaces that shape Ukrainian identity. They are trying to destroy our memory ... As of today, Russia has destroyed or damaged 1,783 cultural heritage monuments and 2,540 cultural infrastructure sites in Ukraine. This is further evidence that Russia’s war is also directed against Ukrainian culture and our identity,” Berezhna wrote.