Russia’s third consecutive mass attack, no limits on Ukraine’s long-range weapons: May 26 highlights

Another massive Russian attack on Ukraine

Overnight into May 26, Russian forces attacked Ukraine with nine cruise missiles, 355 Shahed strike drones, and other unmanned aerial vehicles. Air defenses shot down 297 enemy targets.

A 14-year-old boy was injured in Velykodolynske, Odesa Oblast.

Over the past three days, Russia deployed over 900 strike drones, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles against Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, “There’s no military sense in this, but it’s a clear political choice—[Vladimir] Putin’s choice, Russia’s choice—to keep fighting and destroy lives.”

Trump responded to Russian attacks on Ukraine

U.S. President Donald Trump condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin for bombing Ukraine, saying he doesn’t “like [these attacks] at all.”

“I don't know what's wrong with him. What the hell happened to him? Right? He's killing a lot of people. I'm not happy about that,” Trump said, reacting to Russia’s attack overnight into May 25.

French President Emmanuel Macron suggested Trump now realizes Putin lied about being ready for peace. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called Trump’s reaction “emotional,”

A fighter accused of desertion could have been returned from Russian captivity

During the second phase of a prisoner exchange on May 24, Ukraine may have repatriated a soldier accused of defecting to Russia in 2021. Andriy Yusov, a representative of Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate, said Ukraine had no control over the exchange lists, indicating the soldier’s return was unexpected.

Germany says there are no restrictions on the long-range weapons provided to Ukraine

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced that France, the United Kingdom, Germany, and the United States have lifted restrictions on the range of weapons supplied to Ukraine.

“This means Ukraine can now defend itself by attacking military targets in Russia, for example. Until recently, it couldn’t do so, except in rare cases,” Merz said on German television.

Military recruiters attacked in Poltava and Chernihiv oblasts

In Kremenchuk, Poltava Oblast, seven people carried out a planned attack on two Territorial Recruitment Center employees. Two attackers were detained and taken into custody; the others are being sought.

In Pryluky, Chernihiv Oblast, a man delivered to a TRC stabbed a serviceman, a former frontline soldier, who was hospitalized. The attacker was detained.

For the first time, soldiers from 46 units, from which no one had been returned before, were released from captivity

In the largest prisoner exchange to date, a 1,000-for-1,000 swap, Ukraine freed soldiers from 46 military units never previously included in exchanges.

The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War noted that one in three repatriated soldiers had been captive for over three years.

Drones strike Russian drone and weapons factories

Overnight into May 26, drones attacked a Shahed drone production plant in Yelabuga, Tatarstan, Russia, and a chemical factory in Ivanovo Oblast that produces components for Russian weapons, including missiles, according to Andriy Kovalenko, head of the National Security and Defense Council’s Center for Countering Disinformation.

Other important news

• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree establishing May 27 as Special Operations Forces Day.
• The Netherlands delivered the last of 24 pledged F-16 jets to Ukraine’s Air Force.
• Slovenian President Nataša Pirc Musar urged the EU to start direct dialogue with Russia, beginning with “silent diplomacy.”
• Ukrzaliznytsia restored the Yasinia-Voronenk rail section in the Carpathians after a land collapse.
• Russia’s mobilization pool is estimated at 25 million people, from a population of 145 million.

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