Russia Launches Oreshnik Hypersonic Missile in Massive Kyiv Attack

Darwin, 25 May : Russia launched one of its largest bombardments on the Kyiv region since the war began, using a new hypersonic ballistic missile that killed at least four people, Ukrainian officials said.

The United States classifies the “Oreshnik” missile as an intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of carrying multiple conventional or nuclear warheads.

Due to its speed and trajectory, Ukraine’s air defense systems are believed to have little chance of intercepting it. Russia has reportedly used the missile only for the third time.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the missile struck near the central Ukrainian city of Bila Tserkva.

“They have truly gone mad,” Zelenskyy said. “It is critically important that Russia does not go unpunished for these actions.”

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha stated that the missile carried a dummy warhead.

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas wrote on X that Moscow’s use of the Oreshnik missile—designed to carry nuclear warheads—was “a political intimidation tactic and reckless nuclear brinkmanship.”

French President Emmanuel Macron also condemned the overnight Russian assault, describing the use of the Oreshnik missile as a sign of “escalation” in Russia’s war against Ukraine.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called the missile strike a “reckless escalation” and reaffirmed Germany’s commitment to “stand firmly with Ukraine.”

According to Ukraine’s Air Force, Russia launched a total of 600 drones and 90 missiles overnight. Ukrainian air defenses reportedly intercepted 604 aerial targets. Sybiha described the attack as “one of the largest” strikes on the capital since the beginning of the war.

“Unfortunately, not all ballistic missiles could be intercepted. Kyiv suffered the most, and Kyiv was the main target of this Russian attack,” Zelenskyy said.

The overnight assault on Kyiv came after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered retaliation for what Moscow described as a deadly Ukrainian strike in Russian-occupied territory.

Putin accused Ukraine of carrying out a “terrorist” attack and claimed Ukrainian drones had struck a college dormitory in the occupied eastern city of Starobilsk in the Luhansk region on Friday.

Russian state news agency TASS reported, citing Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry, that the death toll from the Ukrainian drone attack had risen to 18 children. Three more people were believed trapped under the rubble.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Sunday that the Oreshnik missile and other ballistic missiles were used in response to “terrorist attacks” by Ukraine against civilian targets inside Russian territory.

Ukraine’s military rejected Putin’s accusations and reiterated that it targets only “military infrastructure and facilities used for military purposes.”

It added that one of the targets struck on Friday morning was a headquarters linked to the elite Rubicon Center for Advanced Unmanned Technologies in the Starobilsk area.

Established in 2024, the Rubicon unit has played a leading role in Russia’s drone warfare technology and targeting operations.

Speaking from a Kyiv metro station where residents sheltered during the attack, 62-year-old financier Natalia Zvarych described the night as “terrifying.”

“We walked under explosions and saw things flying overhead. It was horrifying and terrifying. We’ve been sitting here for more than three hours listening to the blasts above us,” she told Reuters.

In a sharp criticism aimed at Putin, Zelenskyy said on Sunday, “The United States, Europe, and others must make decisions so that Moscow’s old grumpy man finally speaks the word ‘peace.’”