Russia has used its Oreshnik ballistic missile in a large overnight attack on Ukraine, killing at least four people and injuring 25 in Kyiv, as explosions echoed across the capital for several hours on Thursday night. The strikes lit up the sky and caused widespread damage to homes and infrastructure.
This was only the second confirmed use of the Oreshnik, a weapon first deployed in November 2024 against the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro. Moscow said the latest barrage was retaliation for an alleged Ukrainian drone attack on President Vladimir Putin’s residence in late December, a claim Ukraine has denied and which Western officials have questioned.
Although Russia did not specify the exact target of the Oreshnik missile, social media footage late Thursday showed multiple blasts near the western city of Lviv. Ukrainian authorities later confirmed that a ballistic missile had struck infrastructure close to the city, just 60 kilometres from the Polish border.
The Oreshnik is an intermediate-range hypersonic missile that can travel thousands of kilometres. It is believed to release several independently guided projectiles as it descends, creating a series of rapid explosions over a wide area. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said using such a weapon so close to NATO and EU territory was a serious threat to European security.
EU officials also condemned the attack. Foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the strike was intended to send a warning to both Europe and the United States, adding that Russia’s actions showed it was not interested in peace but in escalating the war.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine was hit by a wave of missiles and drones, including 13 ballistic missiles, 22 cruise missiles and 242 drones. Several energy facilities and civilian sites were damaged, including a building at the Qatari embassy. Zelensky said the goal was to disrupt everyday life during a period of extreme cold.
In Kyiv, rescuers were among the victims. A paramedic was killed while responding to a strike on an apartment building in what city officials described as a “double-tap” attack, where a second missile hits after first responders arrive. Several residential buildings were badly damaged across the city.
The following morning, cleanup operations were under way as shops and cafes reopened near destroyed homes. Debris from drones and missiles littered pavements, while large holes were visible in apartment blocks. Power and heating were cut in many neighbourhoods, just as temperatures were expected to drop to minus 15 degrees Celsius.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko warned that almost half of Kyiv’s apartment buildings were without heat due to damage to critical infrastructure and urged residents who could to seek warmer shelter elsewhere. Diesel generators now hum across the city as businesses try to keep running, but restoring central heating to homes may take longer.
Energy systems have become a major target in the war. Ukraine regularly faces power cuts following Russian strikes, and Kyiv has also launched attacks on Russian infrastructure. On the same night, Ukrainian shelling left around half a million people without electricity in Russia’s Belgorod region, while a strike on a power plant in Oryol disrupted water and heating supplies.
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