Russia Uses Oreshnik Missile in Overnight Ukraine Strikes

By Staff, Agencies

Russia launched a large-scale overnight assault across Ukraine, including the use of its Oreshnik missile, after rejecting a proposed post-war peacekeeping plan backed by Ukraine’s Western allies.

Ukrainian authorities said at least four people were killed in Kiev, with several residential buildings set ablaze.

The attacks came as Ukraine and its European partners agreed this week that European troops could be deployed following any future ceasefire.

Moscow has repeatedly dismissed such proposals, warning that the presence of Western forces on Ukrainian territory would amount to a direct confrontation.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned on Thursday that any Western peacekeeping forces deployed in Ukraine would be “considered legitimate military targets,” accusing Kiev and its US and European allies of forming an “axis of war.”

Russia’s Defense Ministry later confirmed it had used the Oreshnik missile, an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) equipped with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), against what it described as “strategic targets.”

According to Russian authorities, the strikes were carried out in response to a December drone attack on the residence of President Vladimir Putin, an allegation Ukraine has denied.

Ukrainian officials said a ballistic missile traveling at hypersonic speed struck an “infrastructure facility” near the western city of Lviv, with the Ukrainian Air Force estimating the missile’s speed at around 13,000 kilometers per hour.

Russia previously used an Oreshnik missile with unarmed warheads in a strike on the city of Dnipro in late 2024. Although the warheads were not fitted with explosives, officials said their hypersonic velocity caused significant damage upon impact.