Russia carried out overnight strikes on Ukraine using four types of missiles, including the hypersonic Oreshnik, in what Moscow described as retaliation for Kyiv’s attacks on civilian targets inside Russia.
According to Russian reports, the strikes involved Oreshnik, Iskander, Kinzhal and Zircon missiles. The Russian Defence Ministry said the attacks targeted Ukrainian military command facilities, air bases and enterprises linked to Ukraine’s military-industrial complex. Moscow claimed all the strikes were successful.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia used the hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missile during a large-scale overnight assault on Kyiv.
In a post on Telegram, Zelenskyy said the missile struck the city of Bila Tserkva in the Kyiv region, though the intended target was not immediately clear.
According to Ukraine’s Air Force, the overnight attack involved 600 strike drones and 90 air-, sea- and ground-launched missiles. Ukrainian air defences reportedly destroyed or jammed 549 drones and 55 missiles, while around 19 missiles failed to reach their targets.
Ukraine’s Air Force also said one medium-range ballistic missile was launched from Russia’s Kapustin Yar site in the Astrakhan region, known as the launch site for the Oreshnik missile. Although the Air Force did not officially confirm the missile’s identity, it had earlier warned of a possible launch.
At least two people were killed and 56 others injured in the strikes, according to preliminary figures released by local authorities.
Explosions were reported near government buildings in central Kyiv, while damage was recorded at around 40 locations across multiple districts, including residential buildings, schools, supermarkets and warehouses.
“It was a terrible night, and there had never been anything like it in the entire war,” said Kyiv resident Svitlana Onofryichuk, 55, whose workplace was damaged in the attack.
“I am very sorry that I have to say goodbye to Kyiv now, I am not staying there anymore, there is no possibility,” she added. “My job is gone, everything is gone, everything has burned down.”
Another resident, 74-year-old Yevhen Zosin, described the force of the explosions.
“Then there was another explosion and she and I were thrown back like a pin by the shock wave. We both survived, she and I. My apartment was blown to pieces,” he said.
In Kyiv’s Shevchenko district, a five-storey residential building caught fire after being hit, killing one person, according to Ukraine’s state emergency service.
Kyiv mayor Vitalii Klitschko said a school building was also damaged while civilians were sheltering inside.
Russia first used the multiple-warhead Oreshnik missile against the Ukrainian city of Dnipro in November 2024, followed by another strike in the western Lviv region in January.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously claimed the Oreshnik missile travels at 10 times the speed of sound and is capable of penetrating underground bunkers “three, four or more floors down.”
Putin also said the weapon is immune to missile defence systems and claimed that several such missiles armed with conventional warheads could be as devastating as a nuclear strike.
