Russia used a new hypersonic ballistic missile in one of its biggest bombardments of the Kyiv region since the war began, an attack that left at least four people dead.
The United States classifies the Oreshnik, which can carry multiple conventional or nuclear warheads, as an intermediate-range missile. Its speed and trajectory make it almost unstoppable by the air defense systems available to Ukraine. It is only the third time Russia has used the missile.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said the missile had come down near the city of Bila Tserkva in central Ukraine, adding, “They’re really out of their minds. It’s vital that this doesn’t go unpunished for Russia.”
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha, said the missile fired carried a dummy warhead.
“Moscow reportedly using Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missiles – systems designed to carry nuclear warheads – is a political scare-tactic and reckless nuclear-brinkmanship,” said the European Union’s foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas in a post on X.
French President Emmanuel Macron condemned Russia’s overnight attack, saying the use of the Oreshnik signifies an “escalation” in “Russia’s war of aggression” in a post on X.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Russia’s use of the Oreshnik was a “reckless escalation” and reiterated Germany’s pledge to “stand firmly at Ukraine’s side”.
Altogether, Russia fired 600 drones and 90 missiles at Ukraine overnight, according to the Ukrainian Air Force, which said that air defenses shot down 604 of the weapons. Sybiha described it as “one of the largest” attacks on the capital.
“Unfortunately, not all the ballistic missiles were shot down. Kyiv suffered the most hits, and it was Kyiv that was the main target of this Russian attack,” Zelensky said.
The overnight attack on the capital came after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered retaliation for a deadly Ukrainian attack in a Russian-occupied part of Ukraine.
Putin accused Ukraine of a “terrorist” act, claiming that Ukrainian drones struck a college dormitory in Starobilsk, a Russian-occupied town in eastern Luhansk, on Friday.
Russian state news agency TASS said Saturday that the death toll of “children killed in the Ukrainian drone strike” had risen to 18, citing Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations. A further three people are believed to be trapped under the rubble.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Sunday that the use of the Oreshnik and other ballistic missiles was “in response to Ukraine’s terrorist attacks on civilian targets within Russian territory.”
Ukraine’s military has rejected Putin’s claim and reiterated that it strikes “military infrastructure and facilities used for military purposes.”
It added that among targets struck early Friday was “one of the headquarters of the ‘Rubicon’ unit in the Starobilsk area.”
The elite Rubicon Center for Advanced Unmanned Technologies has pioneered Russian drone technology and targeting since its formation in 2024.
Taking shelter from Russia’s retaliation in a Kyiv metro station early Sunday, Nataliia Zvarych recounted a night of “horror.”
“We walked under the explosions; we saw things flying up there. It was terrifying, scary. We have been sitting here for more than three hours now, listening to the explosions up there,” the 62-year-old financier told the news agency Reuters, decrying Russia’s attack as “horrible.”
In a withering reference to Putin, Zelensky said Sunday that “decisions are needed from the United States of America, from Europe, and from others, so that this old curmudgeon in Moscow utters the word ‘peace’.”
