KYIV — President Vladimir Putin ordered a massive missile strike on Kyiv and its surrounding region on May 22, 2026, in response to a Ukrainian drone attack that killed 21 people in a college dormitory in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine, according to Moscow. The Russian barrage included the new hypersonic Oreshnik missile, killed two people, injured scores, and destroyed or damaged many buildings. The Russian Foreign Ministry said Moscow will launch “consistent and systematic” strikes on Kyiv to target drone-making facilities and “decision-making centers.” It also urged foreign diplomats to leave the Ukrainian capital—a demand rejected by Ukraine’s allies.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to warn him of the coming strikes and push for the evacuation of U.S. diplomats. “The danger in all of these wars as they continue and then they go on is that they always have the threat of escalation, of spreading into something new,” Marco Rubio told reporters after the call.

Ukraine has expanded its long-range strikes on Russian energy facilities and arms factories, inflicting increasing damage. Kyiv has also rejected Putin’s demands to withdraw from the eastern Donetsk region as a condition for a ceasefire. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the attacks were “significantly changing the situation — and, more broadly, the world’s perception of Russia’s war.”

Russia’s advances along the over 1,000-kilometer front line in Ukraine have recently ground to a near halt, while Ukrainian forces have launched successful counterstrikes and reclaimed some ground. The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said in a recent analysis, “The character of the war is shifting in favor of Ukrainian forces, at least for now.”

Russia conducted massive drills of its nuclear forces earlier in May 2026 and issued statements warning Kyiv’s European allies of possible retaliation for what the Kremlin described as their involvement in Ukrainian drone attacks. The delivery of U.S.-made Patriot missiles to Ukraine has been delayed, even as Ukraine needs air defense systems to counter Russian assaults.