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War
1551st day. Russia strikes Ukraine with Oreshnik for the third time
Since February 24, 2022, Meduza has been broadcasting live about the Russian-Ukrainian war. We publish your letters every day because we are sure that we need to continue talking about the war. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are increasingly launching attacks on Russian cities. Perm, Tuapse, Cheboksary, Ryazan, Moscow - it seems that tomorrow drones can fly absolutely anywhere in Russia. What difference has this made in your life? Has the war become closer to you personally? Are you afraid for yourself and your loved ones? Do you think that attitudes towards war in the country are changing - and how? The feedback form is at the end of this article. A review of the previous day can be read here .
Ukraine
Russia struck Kyiv and the region - and used Oreshnik for the third time
On the night of May 24, Russian troops launched a large-scale attack on Kyiv and the region using dozens of missiles (including ballistic ones) and hundreds of attack drones, as well as Oreshnik - for the third time since the beginning of the war.
According to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Russia used 90 missiles and 600 drones during the combined strike. 16 missiles and 51 attack drones were hit in 54 locations, the Ukrainian Armed Forces specified. The main direction of attacks was Kyiv.
According to Mayor Vitali Klitschko, two people died. According to the latest data , 81 residents of Kiev were injured, including three children. 31 people were hospitalized, the rest were treated on the spot.
There is destruction in all areas of the capital of Ukraine; the largest ones are in Shevchenkovsky. Near the Lukyanovskaya metro station, the Kvadrat shopping center and the Lukyanovsky market, located not far from the shopping center, were almost completely burned down. Nearby in this area is the Artyom military plant, which has been the target of Russian strikes on several occasions.
In addition, several museums and cultural institutions were damaged - in particular , the National Art Museum of Ukraine, the National Chernobyl Museum and the Ukrainian House, which hosts the exhibition “Chernobyl. Shelter object." Vladimir Zelensky, together with the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Igor Klimenko, came to the damaged Chernobyl museum.
Also, as a result of the explosions in Kiev, the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs located in the center received minor damage, said the head of the department, Andrei Sibiga. “Looking at the broken windows this morning, I can say with complete confidence on behalf of our entire diplomatic team: Russian terrorists will not force us to stop,” he wrote.
Also in Kiev, the UNIAN editorial office was damaged , the publication itself reported.
The attack also affected the Kyiv region. In the Buchansky and Obukhovsky districts, according to the head of the regional military administration of the Kiev region, Nikolai Kalashnik, two people died. Nine more people were injured.
The Oreshnik strike was also carried out in the Kyiv region - in the area of Belaya Tserkov (about 80 kilometers south of Kyiv), confirmed the head of the communications department of the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Yuriy Ignat. According to him, the rocket was launched from the Kapustin Yar test site. The consequences of the strike are unknown. Nikolai Kalashnik wrote that in the Belotserkovsky district a garage cooperative and enterprise buildings were damaged.
Carefully. There is swearing in the video below.
Commentary from the “Analysis” department
The video, shot from different angles, captures the moment the warhead of a ballistic missile splits into clusters of destructive elements. There are no visible explosions when these elements fall to the ground, meaning they probably do not carry explosives. Until now, the Russian Armed Forces have used (twice) only one type of weapon with such destructive elements - the Oreshnik missile. However, this time these elements visually moved more slowly (possibly an optical illusion). Presumably, the submunitions fell not in Kyiv itself, but in the area of Belaya Tserkov in the Kyiv region. The Belotserkovsky cargo aviation complex "Gayek" is located there.
The Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed the Oreshnik attack on Ukraine, saying that Russian troops attacked “military command and control facilities.” Iskander, Kinzhal and Zircon missiles were also used during the attack. The department added that the strike was carried out in response to “terrorist attacks by Ukraine on civilian targets on Russian territory.”
Two days earlier, on May 22, Vladimir Putin made a statement regarding the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ attack on a college in Starobelsk in the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic. He called it a “terrorist attack” and said he had instructed the Russian Ministry of Defense to “present its proposals” for a response. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine called reports from the Russian side that the Ukrainian military had attacked civilian infrastructure in the Luhansk region “manipulative” and stated that the strike was carried out on “one of the headquarters” of the Russian unit “Rubicon” near the city of Starobelsk.
Vladimir Zelensky commented on the night attack in his Telegram channel:
Putin can no longer even pronounce the word “hurray” normally - he mumbles - and yet he still defeats residential buildings with his missiles. Three Russian missiles hit a water supply facility, burned a market, damaged dozens of residential buildings, and damaged several ordinary schools. He launched his Oreshnik against Belaya Tserkov. Really inadequate.
War through the eyes of Meduza readers
How we choose letters
Meduza's readers live in different countries and have different attitudes towards the war. We publish your letters to see this event through your eyes. Our editors try to present all points of view, even if they do not coincide with the editorial position. However, in accordance with the Meduza code, we do not publish messages that contain “hate speech,” justify the murder of civilians, or express direct support for an aggressive war.
Irina (Dnepr) . At the very beginning of the war, when a Russian fighter plane fell on a house in Yeisk and destroyed an entire entrance, my first thoughts were: “Horror, there are people there!” And this was after Mariupol, and even after that I did not think that all Russians were stupid and aggressive animals. I still don’t think so, thanks to Meduza, intelligence and the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which do not allow the front line to move to my city.
But in the fifth year of the war, when missiles and drones are falling in my city, as in the game “Battleship”, and every day is met with the thoughts “Thank God, not at me, not at my loved ones or not at my home,” I greet the news about massive shelling of Russian cities and refineries with a feeling of deep moral satisfaction. This is the transformation that occurs because of the war with, in fact, good, kind people! And all that remains in my head is the phrase “Who will come to us with a sword...”.