Russia launches Oreshnik hypersonic missile strike on Ukraine

Kyiv woke to one of the fiercest assaults it has faced since Russia launched its full-scale invasion four years ago, as waves of drones and missiles slammed into the capital and nearby areas, including an Oreshnik hypersonic missile fired close to the city.

During the hours-long overnight attack, two people were killed in Kyiv and another two died in the surrounding region, while nearly 100 others were injured, Ukrainian officials said.

Officials said dozens of apartment buildings and several schools were damaged, with many of the strikes hitting central districts of Kyiv.

“It’s important that this does not remain without consequences for Russia,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on the Telegram messaging app.

“Decisions are needed – from the United States, from Europe and others,” he said.

Authorities also reported attacks elsewhere across Ukraine, including in the southern Kherson region, where two people were killed.

Firefighters battle flames in an apartment block partly destroyed in a Russian strike on Kyiv

European leaders denounced the strike on Kyiv, while Britain and Germany said Russia’s use of the Oreshnik – an intermediate-range missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads – marked a further “escalation”.

Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, accused Moscow of using “a political scare tactic and reckless nuclear-brinkmanship”.

Chornobyl museum damaged in strike

The barrage also caused minor damage to Ukraine’s cabinet building and the Foreign Ministry.

Officials said the national art museum and the philharmonic hall in central Kyiv were badly damaged, while other historic buildings in the city centre were also hit.

“This is a war against our culture, memory, and identity,” Mr Zelensky’s top aide Kyrylo Budanov said.

“For centuries, Moscow has tried to destroy everything that makes us Ukrainian,” he added.

One strike levelled a newly opened museum dedicated to the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear disaster, drawing an angry response from Mr Zelensky when he visited the site.

At a cafe in the city centre that had only celebrated its opening yesterday, workers swept away shattered glass and debris.

Even with the damage around them, they kept serving customers, some of whom said they had come simply to stand with the business.

“Once ‌the emotions die down a bit, we’ll think about whether to restore everything … or whether to work at all,” said Yevhenii Prusak, the cafe’s co-owner.

The strike marked only the third time Russia has used the Oreshnik missile against Ukraine since the war began with Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The Oreshnik can travel several thousand kilometres.

The previous two attacks struck major cities, but Mr Zelensky said this missile hit Bila ‌Tserkva, a city of 200,000 people about 64 km from Kyiv’s outskirts.

According ‌to a review of Reuters footage by Rollo Collins, an investigator at the Centre for Information Resilience, an open-source investigation organisation, the Oreshnik’s warhead appeared to have broken into 36 submunitions.

Overall, Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 90 missiles and 600 drones.

A wrecked classroom at the Starobilsk College of Luhansk Pedagogical University

Mr Zelensky said Russia had also targeted water-supply facilities, accusing Moscow of trying to damage them before summer pushes up demand.

Russia said it had deployed Oreshnik, Iskander, Kinzhal and Zircon missiles in response to what it called Kyiv’s strikes on civilian targets inside Russia.

Ukraine says ⁠it does not target civilians.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said its strikes were aimed at Ukrainian military command facilities, including sites used by land forces and military intelligence, as well as air bases and military-industrial targets.

Russia also denies targeting civilians, ⁠though thousands have been killed in bombardments of Ukrainian cities over the course of the war.

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‘It was terrifying’

Lukyanivka, a district just north of Kyiv’s centre and home to a missile plant, was left badly scarred by the attack.

Apartment buildings and businesses nearby have been struck time and again by Russian attacks throughout the war, and this latest barrage added to the destruction.

A shopping centre and a nearby market were burned out.

At least two people were killed and another 81 were wounded in the capital, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

About 30 buildings across the city were damaged or destroyed, according to Mr Zelensky.

As the assault unfolded overnight, many residents took refuge in metro stations.

Nataliia Zvarych, 62, said she ran to her nearest station as blasts began echoing across the city.

“It was terrifying, scary,” she said.

Kyiv has recently expanded its drone capabilities and intensified strikes on undisputed Russian territory, including residential districts and oil export infrastructure.

Efforts led by the United States to broker an end to more than four years of war have slowed in recent months, as Washington’s focus has shifted toward its conflict in the Middle East.

Analysis: Deep strikes – drone warfare between Ukraine and Russia intensifies