Kyiv under missile fire as Zelenskyy met Sunak
A look back at the days around 17 May 2023, when a barrage on the capital followed talks at Chequers.
What did the days leading up to 17 May 2023 show about Ukraine's position? Two events, a diplomatic meeting and a missile attack, framed them.
On 15 May 2023, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at Chequers, during a visit to Europe.
On 16 May 2023, Russia launched a missile barrage at Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. More than a dozen explosions were reported in the capital. Ukrainian forces said they had shot down six Kh-47M2 Kinzhal hypersonic missiles.
The sequence placed talks with a key partner just ahead of one of the strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure that formed part of the Russian campaign of 2022–2023. By 17 May 2023, the focus in Kyiv was on the aftermath of that attack and on what Ukrainian air defences had intercepted.
