On May 24th, Russia launched a drone attack against Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv, according to The New York Times. Missiles struck two entryways to a subway system currently serving as a refuge for those sheltering from bombardment, and also struck near Kyiv’s Independence Square. This attack has been deemed ‘nuclear flexing’ by Russia, as the country specifically fired the Oreshnik missile, which releases multiple warheads. The attack killed four people and injured around one hundred, an action that was more so a political message than one centered on effectiveness, according to The New York Times.  

The war in Ukraine has been at a standstill for an extended period of time, a conflict that began with Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and led to full scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. This conflict, now characterized by a significant focus on drone warfare and bombardments, has seen multiple failed and stagnated peace negotiations, with the most recent negotiation failing in February of 2026 in Geneva. The war has seen hundreds of thousands of deaths, with a significant amount of civilian casualties in Ukraine, along with the destruction of towns, cities, infrastructure, and agriculture. The question that now remains as deadly attacks continue, is: when will there be successful peace talks? Russia has drawn hard lines throughout peace talks and has, in many ways, moved the goalpost of what it is willing to accept. Ukraine has also drawn these hard lines, the most recent being its response to Russia requesting full control of the Donbas region, as reported by Axios. In the most recent meeting between the two nations, there was a mutual exchange of prisoners of war, with 500 prisoners from each side being exchanged.

The human suffering of this war has been undeniable and, as each day goes by and each new bombardment is launched, more and more people are at risk. The possibility of citizens returning to normalcy and rebuilding businesses and infrastructure is stalled, due to difficulty in determining that rebuilt structures will remain standing as the war continues. It is paramount that, when continued diplomatic negotiations occur, the core of the discussions is the safety of the civilians being affected by the war.