Russian forces have launched one of the largest strikes on Ukrainian territory in recent weeks, injuring more than a dozen people in Kyiv, according to local authorities.
The nighttime attack on Kyiv came hours after Russia and Ukraine launched the biggest prisoner swap since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.
The two sides traded hundreds of soldiers and civilians in a process that was set to continue over the weekend.
Describing the attack as a difficult night for Ukraine, President Volodymr Zelenskyy said rescue operations are ongoing and emergency services are working at the sites of impacts and fallen debris - wherever necessary.
There were many fires and explosions in the city at night. Residential buildings, cars, and businesses were again damaged. Unfortunately, there are injured people, he added,
The Ukrainian Air Force said 14 Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles, as well as about 250 Shahed attack drones and various types of drone decoys were used in the overnight attack on May 24, with the country's capital being the primary target.
The air force said its defenses had shot down six ballistic missiles aimed at Kyiv and that 245 enemy drones had been destroyed. The aerial assault leftat least 15 people injuredin the city, according to police
Elsewhere, Russian missiles killed two people and wounded several others in Odesa earlier on May 23, authorities reported.
The Russian military said Ukraine had targeted it with 788 drones and missiles since May 20 and it had shot down 776 of them.
In condemning the May 24 strikes on Kyiv, Zelenskyy said that with each such attack, the world becomes more convinced that the reason the war is dragging on lies in Moscow.
Ukraine has offered cease-fires many times -- both full and limited to the skies, he said. All of this has been ignored. Its clear that much more pressure must be put on Russia to get results and start genuine diplomacy.
Zelenskyy emphasized that Ukraine was waiting for sanctions from the US, Europe and all our partners.
Only additional sanctions against key sectors of the Russian economy will force Moscow to cease fire, he added.
Zelenskyy also commented on the ongoing prisoner swaps.
"We are bringing our people home," hesaid in a poston Telegram. "The first part of the agreement on the 1,000-for-1,000 exchange has been implemented."
An exchange of that many people from each side would be the largest of several prisoner swaps so far in Russia's war on Ukraine.
Zelenskyy said 390 people from each side were exchanged and the swap was expected to continue on May 24-25. That number included 270 soldiers and 120 civilians, Russian and Ukrainian officials said.
Hours earlier, US President Donald Trump congratulated both sides, adding on his Truth Social platform: "This could lead to something big???" Previous exchanges have not led to tangible progress on ending the war.
A day earlier, Zelenskyy said the prisoner swap agreement was perhaps the only real result of the 90-minute meeting between Ukrainian and Russian negotiators in Istanbul on May 16 -- the first direct peace talks between Ukrainian and Russian officials since shortly after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The exchange took place at Ukraine's border with Belarus, a Russian ally that has supported the invasion without sending its own troops to fight in the war.
