After Russia’s latest massive attack on Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited damaged civilian sites and did not soften his words.

Standing near the damaged museum, he said:

“They saw this museum. They attacked the museum. Just crazy a*sholes. That’s it.”

The anger was not performative. It followed one of Russia’s largest attacks on Kyiv since the full-scale invasion began. Russia launched around 600 drones and 90 missiles, including the hypersonic Oreshnik missile. Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 549 drones and 55 missiles, but the attack still killed civilians, wounded dozens, and damaged residential buildings, schools, markets, police stations, government buildings, and cultural sites.

Among the civilian sites damaged was Kyiv’s Chornobyl Museum — a place dedicated to memory, warning, and the human cost of nuclear disaster. Zelenskyy’s anger was direct: Russian forces saw what it was, and hit it anyway.

ONEST Take:
Zelenskyy’s language was blunt because the attack was blunt.

Russia is not only targeting infrastructure. It is targeting places that hold Ukraine’s memory — from museums to civilian neighborhoods — as part of a broader effort to exhaust the country’s sense of continuity and normal life.

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Olga Nesterova
Olga Nesterova is a journalist and founder of ONEST Network, a reader-supported platform covering U.S. and global affairs. A former White House correspondent and UN diplomat, she focuses on international security and geopolitical strategy.

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