"Massacres Finally Stop": Zelenskyy Warns Oreshnik Missile Sets 'Global Precedent' as Russian Strike Rocks Kyiv — Acclaimed Director Pleads with Putin in Cannes

24 May 2026 | Kyiv & Cannes & London — Updated 22:30 GMT

In the Shevchenkivsky district of Kyiv, a schoolyard burns. Debris from a intercepted missile has set the premises on fire. Three kilometers away, in Dniprovsky, rescue workers dig through the wreckage of a residential building. A woman's body is pulled from the rubble. Twenty more are wounded.

The air raid siren wailed just after midnight. Then the air force issued a message that stopped hearts: threat of an Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile launch. Minutes later, explosions. The capital shook.

In Cannes, under the glittering lights of the film festival, a Russian director takes the stage. His film has just won the Grand Prix. He does not thank the Kremlin. He looks into the camera and addresses Vladimir Putin directly: "Millions of people dream of only one thing — that the massacres finally stop."

In a small town in Devon, a mother receives confirmation. Her son, 23 years old, has been killed in Donetsk. He was due to receive a bravery award days after his death.

KYIV/CANNES/LONDON – Ukraine's capital Kyiv was hit by a massive strike of missiles and drones early on Sunday, shortly after its air force warned Russia might launch a hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missile. Explosions reverberated through the city shortly after 1am after the air force announced the threat on its Telegram channel. Officials said one person was killed and 20 wounded.

Several residential buildings were damaged across the city, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram. "The capital has come under a mass ballistic missile attack," Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv city military administration, said. "There are currently reports of at least four locations affected by the attack: Shevchenkivsky, Dniprovsky and Podilsky districts. Fires and damage to residential buildings are preliminarily reported." Debris was on fire on the premises of a school in the city centre, Klitschko said.

'A Global Precedent for Aggressors': Zelenskyy's Warning

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that any use of such weapons as the Oreshnik missile "sets a global precedent for other potential aggressors." He added in a social media post: "If Russia is allowed to destroy lives on such a scale, then no agreement will restrain other similar hatred-based regimes from aggression and strikes. We count on a response from the world – and on a response that is not post factum, but preventive. Pressure must be put on Moscow so that it does not expand the war."

On Saturday, Zelenskyy had warned Russia was preparing a strike against Ukraine using the Oreshnik missile, citing intelligence from Ukraine, the United States and Europe. The alerts came after Russian officials said the death toll from a Ukrainian strike on a college and its dormitory in a Russian-occupied town in eastern Ukraine had risen to 18.

The air force did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters on whether an Oreshnik struck any target during the attack. Russia has already attacked Ukraine twice with the Oreshnik, a missile President Vladimir Putin has boasted is impossible to intercept because of its reported velocity of more than 10 times the speed of sound. Russia has deployed the Oreshnik to Belarus, its neighbouring ally, which as well as bordering Ukraine has borders with three Nato member states: Lithuania, Latvia and Poland.

Canada Condemns Attack: 'Russia Will Lose This War'

Canada strongly condemned Russia's attack on civilian targets in Kyiv, with Prime Minister Mark Carney urging Moscow to immediately cease the strikes and its "illegal war of aggression."

Carney said the attacks "prolong human suffering and do nothing to change the fact that Russia will lose this war." He added that Moscow had "greatly underestimated the courage, determination, and strength of the Ukrainian people."

The condemnation came as Nato allies continue to debate the level of military support for Ukraine, with some members pushing for permission to use Western-supplied weapons for strikes deeper inside Russian territory.

'Put an End to This Meat Grinder': Russian Director's Plea at Cannes

In a dramatic moment at the Cannes Film Festival, acclaimed Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev urged Vladimir Putin to end the "carnage" in Ukraine on Saturday after his new movie set during the war came runner-up for the Palme d'Or.

"Millions of people on both sides of the line of contact now dream of only one thing: that the massacres finally stop," he said in his acceptance speech at the awards ceremony. "And the only person who can put an end to this meat grinder is you ... put a stop to this carnage, the whole world is waiting for this."

Zvyagintsev's Minotaur was among the frontrunners for the Palme d'Or top prize for best film at Cannes, finishing with the second-place Grand Prix award behind Fjord by Romanian director Cristian Mungiu. The speech was met with a standing ovation from the audience, though Russian state media has not reported on the director's comments.

Zvyagintsev, best known for his films Leviathan (2014) and Loveless (2017), has been critical of the Kremlin before. His 2014 film Leviathan was accused of being anti-Russian by nationalist politicians. But this speech — delivered on one of the world's most prestigious stages — represents his most direct public appeal to Putin yet.

British National Killed in Donetsk

A 23-year-old Briton has been killed in Ukraine. Reports emerged on Friday that Ayrton Redfearn had died in the Donetsk region on 9 May and were later confirmed to the BBC by his mother, who asked to be known as Natasha.

She said the young man, from Devon, had joined a specialist unit supporting the Ukrainian army in 2025, and that she had "lived in fear of the police coming to my door with bad news."

"We are trying to have just 1% of the strength, bravery and courage of Ayrton, and if we can do this, it will help us to eventually come to terms with our life without him," she said. "I am very grateful for all the tributes, messages and support from those who knew Ayrton and from strangers."

She added that her son had been due to receive a bravery award days after his death. Redfearn was a member of the Torquay Air Cadets as a child and at 17 he joined the RAF before travelling overseas, the BBC reported.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said: "We are supporting the family of a British national who has died in Ukraine, and are in contact with the Ukrainian authorities." The FCDO warns that British nationals fighting in Ukraine face a high risk of maltreatment.

UN Condemns Attacks on Civilians as Starobilsk Death Toll Rises

The UN said on Friday it "strongly condemns any attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, wherever they occur," in the wake of a deadly Ukrainian drone strike in a Russian-occupied town in eastern Ukraine. Russia has accused Ukraine of targeting a student dorm in Starobilsk, in the occupied Luhansk region, saying the death toll has now risen to 18, with 42 wounded, some of whom are still trapped in the rubble.

Kyiv has denied targeting civilians, insisting it had hit a Russian drone unit stationed in the Starobilsk area. The UN noted it could not verify details due to restricted access to the area. In Russia and on the occupied territories of Ukraine, a college is an equivalent of a vocational school, typically for students aged from 15 to 22 years.

The dueling narratives — Russia accusing Ukraine of targeting a dormitory, Ukraine insisting it struck a military target — underscore the information war that accompanies every military engagement. International observers have called for an independent investigation, but access to occupied territories remains severely restricted.

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