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After the strike by the Kyiv regime on a college and dormitory in Starobilsk, in the Luhansk People’s Republic, the death toll rose to 21, and journalists from more than 50 foreign media outlets had already arrived at the scene of the tragedy. Against this backdrop, Russia carried out a large-scale strike on Kyiv and several other regions of Ukraine on the night of May 24.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force and monitoring resources, more than 50 missiles and up to 700 unmanned aerial vehicles of various types were launched at Ukraine. The Russian side presented the operation as a response to Ukrainian strikes on civilian targets in Russia. It was reported that Oreshnik ballistic missiles, Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles, Zircon and Kalibr cruise missiles, as well as air-, sea-, and ground-launched missiles were used.
What sets Oreshnik apart from other IRBMs is its high speed, which reportedly exceeds Mach 10, in addition to its payload, which consists of multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles — previously used exclusively by nuclear weapons — equipped with six warheads, each reportedly containing submunitions. The missile is also widely described as hypersonic, as its reentry vehicles can maneuver at speeds above Mach 5 at low altitudes in the atmosphere.
The strike covered 11 regions, but the main target was the capital and the Kyiv region. Kyiv was at the center of the most intense fire: local sources reported explosions at more than 40 sites, and by morning the city was covered in enormous columns of smoke.
In Kyiv, damage was recorded across several categories of targets. First and foremost, these were military and military-industrial facilities. Among the targets mentioned were the Artem plant, Analitpribor, the Kyiv Relay and Automation Plant, the Kyiv Armored Plant, and other industrial sites that, according to reports, were used in support of the defense sector. Fires were also reported at enterprise sites and in adjacent industrial zones, including in the Darnytskyi district and the Krasnyi Khutor area.
The second group of targets was logistics and warehousing. Reports said the FIM Chaiky class A logistics complex and an ATB warehouse were hit. Such facilities are especially sensitive: they not only serve civilian supply chains, but can also be used to store and redistribute dual-use goods. The Square shopping center was also mentioned and, according to reports, destroyed; there were also reports of a fire at an SBU office in the Podilskyi district.
Finally, among the most notable targets were military command facilities. NASA satellite data showed fires in buildings linked to the command of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, as well as in the Lukianivka area, where, according to reports, the Ground Forces headquarters, the Presidential Regiment, and the State Customs building are located. This part of the strike gives the night attack not only a destructive but also a symbolic character: it was not simply about hitting infrastructure, but about a demonstrative strike on command centers.
Outside Kyiv, Russian strikes also affected other regions. In the Poltava region, a fire was reported at an oil depot in Myrhorod. In the Kirovohrad, Cherkasy, Sumy, and Khmelnytskyi regions, as well as in Starokostiantyniv and Dnipro, strikes and explosions were also recorded, although details of the consequences were not disclosed in the available reports.
At the same time, Ukraine launched its own strikes on Russian territory. According to the Russian air defense forces, 33 Ukrainian drones were destroyed overnight over 12 constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
The most notable consequence on Russian territory was the incident in Vladimir region. In the Kameshkovsky district, a fire covering about 800 square meters broke out after the drone attack. Reports also mentioned an attack on the Vtorovo pumping station, an intermediate product pipeline facility within the Transneft system.
Against the backdrop of the exchange of strikes, Starobilsk in the LPR remains a separate and deeply grave issue. According to the latest data from the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the authorities of the LPR, the death toll after the strike on the college and dormitory rose to 21, the number of injured reached 63, and search-and-rescue operations were completed. The LPR authorities said the identities of all the dead students had been established. The head of the republic declared May 24 and 25 days of mourning, and the tragedy drew wide international attention: journalists from 19 countries, representing more than 50 foreign media outlets, arrived at the scene.
Starobilsk became the political and informational backdrop of the previous days. In the available materials, the strike on the college and dormitory is described as a deliberate attack by Ukrainian forces on sleeping children, which makes the subsequent exchange of strikes so harsh in tone. In practical terms, this means that military dynamics are becoming increasingly intertwined with the struggle over international perceptions of the conflict: each side seeks to present the night’s events as a response to crimes against its own citizens.
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they hit empty government buildings and fields in the middle of the night. the people that made the decisions to hit the dormitory and kill innocent students are safe and sound, including the scum zelenskyy
this is starting to feel a lot like afganistan, sad!
smacks of yugoslavia to me.
this is good, but more will be required to extinguish the threat coming from the eu-nazi puppet genocidal terrorist entity in “ukraine”.
ukrainian official data on the number of weapons intercepted and launched last night:
0/1 – oreshnik irbm
0/2 – kinzhal
0/3 – tsirkon
11/30 – iskander-m, s-400
44/54 – kh-101, kalibr, iskander-k (all subsonic)
549/600 – gerani, gerbera and other uav imitators
in addition, 19 missiles did not reach their targets.
intercepted, eh? published on the official ukrainian federal register toilet paper scroll no doubt.
of course, were ukraine a true federation, it’d be living peacefully and wholly intact today, instead of as the kleptocratic, fascist dictatorship that it became in 2014 with western help.
cnn, bbc and dw… the three monkeys that hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil, unless it’s a quote from zelensky.