Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned on May 29 that Russian intelligence is preparing a new massive attack on Ukraine, just six days after Moscow launched 90 missiles and 600 drones at Kyiv in the largest aerial assault on the capital in over a year. On the same day, the United Nations added Russian armed and security forces to its conflict-related sexual violence blacklist for the first time, citing 310 verified cases of abuse against Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilian detainees. The country bracing for the next bombardment is the same country whose captive soldiers are being systematically abused in Russian custody.
A New Attack Is Coming
Zelensky said Ukrainian intelligence confirmed Russia is preparing a large-scale strike, posting directly to X that the country "continues to rely on missiles and further war, not diplomatic steps." He urged citizens to pay close attention to air raid alerts and said the air force would be operating around the clock.
The warning follows a pattern. On May 25, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a phone call that Moscow planned strikes on Ukrainian "decision-making centers" and urged Washington to evacuate its embassy in Kyiv. Russia's Foreign Ministry also issued a public statement encouraging foreign citizens, including diplomats, to leave the city. No embassies evacuated.
The May 24 attack that preceded this warning included the Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile, capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. Damage spread across every district of Kyiv. The Chernobyl Museum, dedicated to the 1986 nuclear disaster, was destroyed. Four people were killed and more than 100 injured.
View on X: Zelensky's official warning about Russia's new massive attack (May 29)
The UN Blacklist
The United Nations placed Russian armed and security forces on its annual blacklist of parties responsible for conflict-related sexual violence on May 29. The listing is the first time Russian forces have appeared on it. A 35-page report documented 310 verified cases in Russia and Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory, despite Moscow's refusal to grant UN investigators access. The victims were prisoners of war and civilian detainees, the vast majority of them men.
The blacklisting formalizes years of documentation. A UN commission of inquiry reported in March 2024 that Russian torture of Ukrainian POWs was "widespread and systematic." By November 2024, UN human rights monitors had documented 376 separate cases involving men, women, and children. The same annual report covers 77 parties across a dozen countries.
"The designation follows years of documentation by Ukraine, the U.N. human rights organizations and journalists of sexual violence against Ukrainians in Russian captivity."
Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia rejected the findings as "unsubstantiated lies" and said Russia was preparing its own report on the treatment of Russian POWs held by Ukraine.
Ukraine's Skies Are Running Out of Shields
Zelensky wrote directly to President Donald Trump in late May, warning that Ukraine's stockpile of Patriot interceptors and anti-ballistic missile systems has reached a critical level. The letter, first reported by the Kyiv Independent, was also distributed to House Speaker Mike Johnson and other members of Congress by Ukraine's U.S. Ambassador Olha Stefanishyna.
"When it comes to air defense against missiles, we rely on our friends. When it comes to defending against ballistic missiles, we rely almost exclusively on the United States." — Volodymyr Zelensky, in a letter to President Trump
The letter cited failures in the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) program, which allows NATO allies to finance U.S. weapons purchases for Ukraine. "The current pace of deliveries through the PURL program is no longer keeping up with the reality of the threat we face," Zelensky wrote. He asked specifically for Patriot PAC-3 interceptors and additional air defense systems.
Zelensky had previously warned that Patriot missile supplies reached a critical level in mid-April, when he ordered Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk to urgently contact partner countries that had pledged interceptors but not delivered them. Russia launched 90 missiles and 600 drones on May 24. A new wave is now being prepared.
Two facts define the week before June. Russia is planning another massive strike on a city still clearing debris from the last one. The United Nations has formalized what human rights investigators have documented for years: systematic sexual abuse of Ukrainian prisoners in Russian custody. Zelensky has told Trump directly that the systems needed to intercept the next wave are running critically low. What Washington decides to do with that letter remains the open question.
Sources
- Russia preparing new large-scale attack, Zelensky says — The Kyiv Independent
- UN blacklists Russian forces over sexual violence against Ukrainian POWs, civilian detainees — The Kyiv Independent
- Exclusive: Zelensky sends Trump urgent letter warning of Ukraine's critical missile defense shortages — The Kyiv Independent
- Zelenskyy warns Russia may be preparing 'massive' new attack — Euronews
- Official statement by President Zelensky on X (@ZelenskyyUa)
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