In the provided image from the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency responders extinguish a blaze at a house of prayer belonging to a local Evangelical Christian Baptist community after a Russian aerial assault in Balakliia, Kharkiv province, Ukraine, on May 23, 2026.Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP
Ukraine is endeavoring to confirm information received from the United States and other sources, indicating that Russia is getting ready to deploy a hypersonic ballistic missile system, declared President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday.
“Our intelligence bodies have indicated the receipt of information, including from American and European allies, regarding Russia’s preparation for a strike using the Oreshnik missile. We are validating this data,” stated Zelenskyy in a message posted on X.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky arrives to attend the 8th European Political Community (EPC) summit in Yerevan, on May 4, 2026.Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images, FILE
“We are improving our air defenses to the greatest extent possible, and we will react with full justice to each Russian attack,” he appended.
The U.S. Embassy situated in Kyiv issued a security notification on Saturday, alerting the public to a “potentially noteworthy” aerial assault on Ukraine in the subsequent 24 hours.
“As always, the embassy suggests that U.S. citizens be ready to immediately seek shelter should an air raid alarm sound,” the embassy stated in their announcement.
In the provided image from the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency responders extinguish a blaze at a house of prayer belonging to a local Evangelical Christian Baptist community after a Russian aerial assault in Balakliia, Kharkiv province, Ukraine, on May 23, 2026.Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP
On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin asserted that a number of individuals were killed and several dozen wounded, as a consequence of Ukrainian drone offensives against a college residential building in Starobilsk in the Luhansk People’s Republic.
The Russian leader mentioned he requested proposals from his armed forces to retaliate against Ukrainian drone actions in Starobilsk.
Members of the Lava Unmanned Systems Regiment assemble a drone as they wait for a combat mission, on May 22, 2026, in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine.Diego Fedele/Getty Images
“It is not possible to restrict ourselves to pronouncements from the Foreign Ministry alone. Therefore, the Russian Defense Ministry has been instructed to submit their suggestions,” Putin remarked to military graduates on Friday.
Ukraine’s military dismissed Russian claims that it attacked the dorm, stating on social platforms that it instead struck a headquarters of a Russian military drone squad known as “Rubicon.”
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in a Facebook statement, defined “Rubicon” as a drone force that habitually targets Ukrainian citizens, while also accusing Russian media outlets of disseminating “deceptive information” — further asserting that Kyiv exclusively attacks military installations and abides by international humanitarian law.
Sourse: abcnews.go.com