Up First from NPR
Russia Intensifies Attacks On Ukraine, Summer Travel Season, Wildfire Forecast
Mon, 26 May 2025
Ukrainian officials say Russia launched its largest airstrikes since the start of the conflict. Sunday's attack, which killed 12 people, happened only hours before a prisoner exchange. Memorial Day is considered the unofficial start of summer and the summer travel season, but a deadly midair collision in the nation's capital in January and reports of air traffic control outages have raised safety concerns. Also, government forecasts predict an above normal wildfire risk for some parts of the country yet cuts to the US Forest Service makes fighting fires harder. Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.Today's episode of Up First was edited by Ryland Barton, Catherine Laidlaw, HJ Mai, Mohamad ElBardicy. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Lindsay Totti. We get engineering support from Damian Herring and our technical director is David Greenburg.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Chapter 1: What are the latest developments in the Russia-Ukraine conflict?
Ukrainian officials say Russia launched its largest airstrike since the start of the conflict.
Chapter 2: What does the recent airstrike mean for ceasefire negotiations?
Sunday's attack killed 12 people and happened only hours prior to a prisoner exchange. What's it mean for potential ceasefire talks?
I'm Michelle Martin, that's A. Martinez, and this is Up First from NPR News. Memorial Day is considered the unofficial start of summer and the summer travel season. Millions will take to the roads and skies this holiday weekend. But a deadly air collision in D.C. in January and reports of air traffic control outages have raised safety concerns. What should you know before you go?
Chapter 3: How is the summer travel season shaping up?
And the summer wildfire season is here. Forecasts predict an above normal fire risk in some parts of the country. Yet cuts to the U.S. Forest Service makes fighting fires harder. Stay with us. We've got all the news you need to start your day.
Chapter 4: What are the safety concerns for summer travel?
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Chapter 5: What is the forecast for wildfires this summer?
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Russia has launched massive drone and missile assaults on Ukrainian cities over the weekend.
The attacks happened over the past three nights, even as the two countries carried out the largest prisoner exchange since Russia's full-scale invasion began more than three years ago. President Trump criticized the strikes while also repeating his claim that this war would have never started under his watch.
Joining us to talk about all this is NPR's Joanna Kakissis, who's in Kiev. Good morning, Joanna. Good morning, Michelle. So let's start with Russia's latest drone and missile strikes. What can you tell us?
So Russia launched hundreds of drones and missiles at Ukrainian cities over the past three days. And these attacks have killed at least a dozen people, including children and injured many more and also destroyed homes. And so here in Kyiv, we consider ourselves lucky if after all that we are only sleep deprived. Here's what woke me up last night.
That's the sound of Ukraine's air defenses shooting down drones buzzing over our neighborhood.
Joanna, I've been hearing you report on these attacks just about every day, and they seem to be escalating. So why has Russia intensified its attacks in recent weeks?
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Chapter 6: What were the conditions of soldiers in the recent prisoner exchange?
Well, it was incredibly moving and also heartbreaking. Families were gathered in this leafy courtyard in northern Ukraine, waiting to see if their loved ones would be among the soldiers getting off these chartered buses. 18-year-old Milena Moroz held a photo of her father, who has been missing since February, and she broke down when we talked. I'm sure you've never been able to say, I love you.
She's saying, I wish I had told them, I love you, Dad. So when the buses carrying the soldiers arrived, the families rushed to hug them as they walked out. One young soldier, Anton Kobylnik, told us he'd been in captivity for three years. He's saying, I won't really feel like I'm at home until I see my mom. We only saw a handful of these reunions.
However, Michelle, most family members were left waiting in tears, including 18-year-old Milena Moroz. Her father is still missing.
Oh, it's so tragic. That's NPR's Joanna Kakisic in Kyiv. Joanna, thank you. You're welcome.
The summer travel season is underway, with millions of Americans on the move over the long holiday weekend.
But there are also some big questions about the summer travel season, including whether the nation's fragile air traffic control system can handle the surge.
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Chapter 7: How did families react to the recent prisoner exchange?
NPR's Joel Rose covers transportation. So, Joel, what kind of numbers are we expecting from this Memorial Day weekend?
Big ones. The forecast from AAA is that we will see a record this holiday weekend with 45 million Americans traveling at least 50 miles from home. That is expected to break a record that has stood for 20 years. And it's mostly because of a record number of Americans driving this weekend. Drivers will find gas prices at their lowest levels on Memorial Day since 2021, according to GasBuddy.
Air travel is not quite expected to break the all-time record, but it is still forecast to be up about 12% compared to the levels before the COVID pandemic, according to AAA. So the demand for holiday travel this weekend is definitely there.
You know, Joel, summer and airline travel go hand in hand. So what's the outlook for the skies?
Airlines went into this year very optimistic about 2025, and they were expecting strong demand. But a lot of things have happened to cut into that optimism. The forecasts for international travel have softened because of political tensions between the U.S. and other countries. There's a lot of concern that travel from Canada and Europe to the U.S. will be down this summer.
Also, we have seen some very high-profile problems in the aviation system itself. You had the midair collision at Washington Reagan National Airport in January between a regional jet and a military helicopter. And a few weeks later, there was a hard landing in Toronto where another regional jet flipped over on the runway.
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Chapter 8: What are the expected travel numbers for Memorial Day weekend?
And in recent weeks, we have seen hundreds of flights canceled or delayed or diverted around Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, outside New York City. because of several radar and communication outages in the facility that manages that airspace. Also, there's a shortage of air traffic controllers in Newark and really across the whole country.
And all of this is creating a lot of uncertainty around air travel this summer. So speaking of Newark, what's new there? The FAA has now capped the number of flights in and out at Newark at a level that the agency says is more in line with what air traffic control can handle.
The FAA says it's working to install new fiber optic lines and adding new backup systems to help with the technical problems in Newark. The FAA says it's also trying to speed up hiring and training of new air traffic controllers. But, you know, the reality is that it takes years to train them to work in complex and congested airspace. And the system nationwide is more than 3,000 controllers short.
So there's no quick fix there. So is Newark Airport ready for the summer travel season? I mean, what's going on? Federal regulators and aviation industry experts say it is safe to fly through Newark, and so does United Airlines. And this is a very big deal for United because Newark is a major hub. In particular, it is United's biggest international hub in the country.
So United says it has seen some customers trying to avoid Newark, rebooking to other airports in the New York area and to other airlines. But United says it's optimistic that these new limits on the number of flights should reduce delays this summer. Now, anything else travelers need to know about? This is the first Memorial Day since the Real ID requirement took effect.
Officially, that means you cannot just show up with a standard driver's license or state ID at airport security. In practice, TSA is still allowing people without a Real ID to travel, but they say you may experience delays and have to go through some additional screening if you don't have the updated Real ID.
Joel Rose covers transportation for NPR. Thanks, Joel.
You're welcome.
The summer fire season has already kicked off with some significant fires in the Midwest and Arizona.
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