Russia launches major nighttime barrage

Russian forces launched one of their largest overnight air attacks of the war into Ukraine between late May 18 and early May 19, according to Ukrainian officials and reports published Tuesday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia fired at least 524 Shahed drones and nearly two dozen ballistic and cruise missiles, with strikes reported across eight regions. The city of Dnipro and the surrounding central region took the heaviest damage, while local authorities said more than two dozen civilians were wounded, including three children. The attack came a day after the Kremlin said the U.S.-mediated peace process was “on pause” but could still resume. ### How large was this overnight strike? Zelenskyy said Ukrainian authorities counted at least 524 Iranian-made Shahed strike drones and close to two dozen missiles launched from Russia between late Sunday and Monday. Euronews, citing Ukrainian air-defense reporting, described it as one of the largest barrages in recent days and said the attack hit multiple cities across the country. (euronews.com) Eight regions were targeted, Zelenskyy said, and the strikes followed several days of sustained long-range attacks. Euronews reported that recent Russian attacks, aimed mainly at residential areas, had killed dozens in Ukraine, including 24 people in a Kyiv apartment building in an earlier strike. ### Which places were hit hardest? (euronews.com) Dnipro and the surrounding region bore the brunt of the latest barrage, according to local officials cited by Euronews. A photograph distributed by the Ukrainian Emergency Service showed firefighters tackling a blaze at a damaged residential building in Dnipro on May 18. Local authorities said the latest wave of strikes wounded more than two dozen civilians, including three children. (euronews.com) NBC News, citing the Associated Press, separately reported that Russian drone strikes on Ukraine overnight wounded eight people, underscoring that attacks continued even as Moscow publicly spoke about possible renewed talks. ### What did the Kremlin say about peace talks? Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said on May 18 that the Ukraine peace process was on pause but that Moscow expected it to resume. NBC News reported that Peskov made the comment after President Donald Trump said deadly Russian strikes on Ukraine could set back peace efforts. Peskov said Moscow expected “our American colleagues” to continue mediation efforts, according to the Kyiv Independent. (euronews.com) That marked a change in tone from earlier Russian remarks that had downplayed negotiations, the publication said. ### Why are talks and strikes colliding now? May 18 brought the Kremlin’s public acknowledgment that talks were stalled, but the battlefield showed no corresponding slowdown. (nbcnews.com) Euronews reported that the latest barrage extended a spiral of long-range strikes that intensified after a May 9-11 ceasefire that Trump said he had asked Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin to observe. (kyivindependent.com) Trump said last week that a Russian missile strike on a Kyiv apartment building that killed 24 people, including three children, had delayed efforts to reach peace, NBC News reported. Peskov responded by pointing to Ukrainian strikes on civilian targets in Russia. ### What was happening inside Russia at the same time? Moscow faced what NBC News described as its biggest drone attack in more than a year over the weekend. (euronews.com) At least three people were killed in the wider Moscow region, including a woman in Khimki and two men in Pogorelki, according to local Russian officials cited by NBC. The Russian Defense Ministry said more than 1,000 Ukrainian drones had been shot down or jammed in the previous 24 hours, with about 80 identified as heading toward Moscow, Euronews reported. (nbcnews.com) An Indian worker also died in a drone strike in the Moscow region, NBC News said, citing the Indian Embassy in Moscow. ### Where do negotiations stand from here? (nbcnews.com) The latest trilateral talks involving Ukraine, Russia and the United States took place on Feb. 16, according to the Kyiv Independent. A follow-up meeting planned for late February and then early March was canceled, the publication reported, and Zelenskyy has since said he expects Trump’s envoys to visit later this spring or early summer to try to revive talks. (euronews.com) Peskov said on May 18 that Moscow still expected U.S. mediation to continue. That leaves the next identifiable step with American envoys and any renewed contact among Washington, Moscow and Kyiv after the May 19 barrage. (kyivindependent.com)