Death toll in attack on Kyiv apartment building now stands at 24 : NPR

Rescuers clear the rubble of a heavily damaged house after a Russian strike in a residential area of ​​kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, May 14, 2026.

Evgueni Maloletka/AP

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Evgueni Maloletka/AP

kyiv, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that a Russian missile attack on a kyiv building the day before killed 24 people, including three children.

Rescuers finished searching the rubble of the building after more than a day, Zelensky said on X.

The cruise missile hit a nine-story corner building in what Ukraine’s air force called the largest barrage of Russian fire on the country since its all-out invasion.

The attack mainly targeted the Ukrainian capital, where 48 people were injured, including two children, Mr. Zelensky said.

Russia hit Ukraine with large-scale air attacks in the days after a May 9-11 ceasefire that U.S. President Donald Trump said he asked Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin to observe. Fighting continued during these 72 hours, although apparently on a smaller scale.

This week’s attacks fly in the face of recent suggestions from Trump and Putin that the war, now in its fifth year, is close to ending.

Zelensky said Thursday that Moscow had launched more than 1,560 drones against Ukrainian population centers since Wednesday. In total, some 180 sites across the country were damaged, including more than 50 residential buildings, it said.

Previously, the largest Russian drone attack took place on the evening of March 23 to the evening of March 24, when Moscow’s forces fired almost 1,000 drones and missiles into Ukraine.

The Ukrainian capital observed an official day of mourning on Friday in memory of those killed.

The cruise missile that hit the building was built in the second quarter of this year, Zelenskyy said, apparently after Ukrainian experts analyzed the wreckage.

“This means that Russia continues to import components, resources and equipment necessary for missile production, bypassing global sanctions,” Zelensky said in another article on X on Thursday evening.

“Ending Russian plans to circumvent sanctions must be a real priority for all our partners,” he said.

Russia and Ukraine continued to occasionally exchange prisoners of war, and 205 from each country returned home Friday.

Zelensky said it was the first phase of a planned 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner swap. Some of the freed Ukrainians had been held captive by Russia since 2022, he explained, and had fought in some of the fiercest battles of the war.

The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the exchange and thanked the UAE for its assistance.