Have you missed the latest events on the war in Ukraine? 20 Minutes takes stock for you every evening. Here is the gist of this Sunday, May 24, 2026, on the 1,551st day of the conflict.
Fact of the day
At least four people were killed and more than a hundred injured in Ukraine in intense nighttime Russian bombings which particularly targeted kyiv. Russia targeted Ukraine with “90 missiles and 600 drones”, of which 55 and 549 respectively were intercepted, the Ukrainian army said on Sunday morning.
Moscow used its Orechnik hypersonic ballistic missile, of intermediate range and capable of carrying nuclear warheads, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. “Three Russian missiles hit a water supply infrastructure, a market burned, dozens of residential buildings damaged, several ordinary schools, and he (Vladimir Putin, editor’s note) launched his “Orechnik” against Bila Tserkva. They are really crazy,” he continued.
The Russian Defense Ministry indicated that it had used several of these missiles, with kyiv only reporting a single strike so far. Moscow claims to have only targeted targets linked to the Ukrainian army, in response to kyiv’s strikes on its territory.
Today’s statement
« I spent most of the morning feeling nauseous thinking that if (the missile) had fallen 100 meters away, I wouldn’t have a mother or a sister anymore. […] But I’m very proud of myself for the way we handled the situation. »
At a press conference at Roland Garros, the Ukrainian tennis champion, Marta Kostyuk, indicated, very moved, that a missile had fallen 100 meters from her parents’ house. The Ukrainian showed the journalists present a photo received on her phone showing a plume of smoke rising into a blue sky. “It’s a photo of my parents’ house and its surroundings, I received it at 8 a.m.,” she explained.
Wiping away a few tears, the kyiv native said that this match was “one of the most difficult matches of (her) life”. However, she emerged victorious against the Spaniard of Russian origin Oksana Selekhmeteva.
The number of the day
3. This is the third time that Moscow has used this missile on Ukraine since the start of its invasion in February 2022, until now without nuclear warheads. The Russian president had promised a military response after a Ukrainian drone strike in the night from Thursday to Friday on educational buildings in Starobilsk, in the Ukrainian region of Lugansk (east) occupied by Moscow, which left 21 dead and more than 40 injured.
Today’s trend
Top European leaders responded by saying the use of the Orechnik missile revealed Russia’s “desperation.” “Terrorism against civilians is not (a sign of, editor’s note) force. “It’s despair,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on X.
All our file on the war in Ukraine
French President Emmanuel Macron condemned Moscow’s “forward flight”, while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called Orechnik’s use of “irresponsible climbing” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has deplored “a gradual escalation in the importance of weapons used”
