Russia resumes large-scale aerial assault on Kyiv following ceasefire collapse
President Volodymyr Zelensky condemns the breach of the three-day pause, urging US President Donald Trump to raise the issue with Chinese leader Xi Jinping amid escalating hostilities.
Russia launched a massive aerial offensive against Kyiv and surrounding regions on Thursday, 14 May 2026, deploying more than 670 attack drones and 56 ballistic missiles overnight. The strikes, which resumed after Moscow unilaterally ended a three-day ceasefire on Tuesday, resulted in at least one death and dozens of injuries, including 31 people wounded in the Kyiv region.
President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the scale of the attack in a social media post, stating that the volume of ordnance launched was inconsistent with any belief that the war was concluding. He emphasised that international partners must not remain silent regarding the breach of the temporary truce, which had been announced by US President Donald Trump the previous week.
The assault targeted six districts within the capital and six additional areas in the surrounding region. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed that the city was under heavy attack, noting that at least one residential building was damaged and a vehicle ignited in a car park. Rocket debris also struck a non-residential structure, while rescue workers were observed extracting injured individuals from the rubble of partially collapsed buildings.
Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, reported that one person was killed and 16 were wounded within the city limits. The state emergency service later updated the casualty figures for the broader Kyiv region to 31 wounded, including a child. This escalation follows a separate barrage on Wednesday, where at least 800 drones targeted western Ukraine, killing six people and wounding dozens more.
The collapse of the ceasefire occurred shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin presided over a scaled-down military parade in Red Square to mark the anniversary of victory in World War II. Zelensky has urged Trump to discuss ending the conflict during his meetings this week with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, highlighting the diplomatic challenges as Russia continues its large-scale night attacks after more than four years of war.
