Russia uses advanced hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missile to strike Ukraine
Russia has hit Ukraine’s Lviv region with its intermediate-range ballistic missile Oreshnik. A separate missile and drone attack on Kyiv killed four people and injured 19, including paramedics who were hit in a double-tap strike as they assisted the injured.
In one of its largest barrages involving dozens of drones and missiles, Russia attacked Ukraine overnight on Friday with its advanced hypersonic Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic (IRBM) missile.
Moscow used Oreshnik to target critical infrastructure in Lviv in western Ukraine, Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said.
Oreshnik, which in Russian means “hazelnut tree”, is one of Russia’s newest weapons, and one whose potential Moscow has been keen to promote.
Its missiles can be equipped with nuclear payloads and are designed to hit targets over much greater ranges.
According to the Western Command of Ukraine's Air Force, the Oreshnik that targeted the western Ukrainian city travelled at a speed of 13,000 kilometres per hour.
The first confirmed use of this missile was registered when Russia used it to strike Dnipro in November 2024.
Russia has previously confirmed that it used Oreshnik missiles to attack Ukraine.
The Kremlin stated that the IRBM attack was “a response“ to Ukraine’s purported attempt to hit Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residence last month – a claim that both Ukraine and the US denied.
The CIA has assessed that Ukraine did not target Putin’s residence, according to US officials. US President Donald Trump also added to assertions that the attack did not take place.
Double-tap attack on Kyiv
Also overnight into Friday, four people were killed and 19 were injured in the capital Kyiv during a massive missile and drone attack by Russia.
A paramedic was among those killed as a result of a double-tap strike, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
"One paramedic died, and four were injured while assisting people in the Darnytskyi district," he said.
Several neighbourhoods in Ukraine’s capital were affected, while residential buildings sustained damage from the attack, Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said.
In Desnyanskyi district, a drone crashed onto the roof of a multi-story building. The first two floors of a residential building in the same district were also damaged in the attack.
In Dnipro district, drone parts damaged a multi-story building and a fire broke out.
Running water and electricity were disrupted in parts of the capital as a result of the attack, Klitschko added.
Moscow launched a total of 36 missiles and 242 drones of various types, including 8 Iskander ballistic missiles and 10 Kalibr cruise missiles.
Ukraine's air force had earlier warned of a ballistic missile threat and reported that drones were heading towards the capital.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had also alerted the nation regarding Russian attempts at a large-scale offensive on Thursday evening.
He said that Russia aimed to take advantage of the frigid weather in the capital which has led to roads being icy and slippery, and called on people to seek protection in bomb shelters during raid alerts.
Russia’s peace signals
Moscow launched its attack amid the US-led efforts to put an end to Moscow’s all-out war against Ukraine.
Zelenskyy said that although Russia’s primary target was Ukraine’s civil infrastructure and energy facilities, the Qatari embassy building was also damaged by a Russian drone last night.
“Qatar is a country that is doing so much to mediate with Russia to free prisoners of war and civilians held in Russian prisons," the Ukrainian president said.
Ukraine’s foreign minister also showed photos from inside the embassy of Qatar in Kyiv after Russian attack.
Zelenskyy further called for “a clear response from the world," first and foremost from the US.
“Russia must receive signals that it is its duty to focus on diplomacy and feel the consequences every time it focuses on killings and destruction of infrastructure,” he stated.
He also said that the latest Russian strike serves as a “loud reminder” to all Kyiv’s partners that “support for Ukraine's air defence is a constant priority”.
“We cannot afford to lose a single day in supply, production or negotiations.”
Earlier, Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said Ukraine is initiating urgent meetings of the UN Security Council, the Ukraine-NATO Council, as well as responses within the EU, the Council of Europe, and the OSCE.
“Such a strike close to EU and NATO border is a grave threat to the security on the European continent and a test for the transatlantic community.”
On Thursday, Moscow rejected the “Coalition of the Willing” Paris meeting conclusions regarding security guarantees for Ukraine and threatened the European countries that are willing to deploy their forces in Ukraine after the ceasefire and a peace agreement.
Russia’s foreign ministry called the European peacekeeping forces a “legitimate target” for Russia.
Moscow also said the talks' conclusions and statements were far from anything Russia could possibly accept.
EU condemns Russia's Oreshnik attack
Brussels has since condemned the Russian attack and Moscow’s use of the Oreshnik missile.
The EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the strike shows that “Putin doesn't want peace”.
"Russia’s reply to diplomacy is more missiles and destruction. This deadly pattern of recurring major Russian strikes will repeat itself until we help Ukraine break it," Kallas said on X
Russia’s use of the Oreshnik missile was a “clear escalation against Ukraine and meant as a warning to Europe and to the US," she concluded.
'Unhappy' Putin sends message to West
with Ukraine strike on EU border
Paris (France) (AFP) – Russia's Oreshnik missile attack in Ukraine near the EU border aims to intimidate Kyiv's Western allies and signals Vladimir Putin's displeasure at recent foreign policy setbacks including in Venezuela, analysts said Friday.
Issued on: 09/01/2026 - RFI
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said a Russian nuclear-capable missile known as the 'Oreshnik' had been deployed in Belarus © Handout / Russian Defence Ministry/AFP
Days after European and US negotiators unveiled a post-war peacekeeping plan for Ukraine, Russia overnight Thursday to Friday targeted an infrastructure facility in the country's western region of Lviv with the Oreshnik nuclear-capable intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM).
It is thought to be only the second known combat use of the weapon.
While Moscow said the strike came in response to an alleged drone attack on a Putin residence in December, nearly four years after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, analysts said the move was designed to send a clear message to Western leaders and frighten ordinary Europeans.
"Vladimir Putin is using this to communicate with the West, because he could undoubtedly achieve the same operational effects without this missile," Cyrille Bret, a Russia expert at the Paris-based Montaigne Institute, told AFP.
"As Europeans are developing their air defence capabilities, this is a way of reminding them of their vulnerability," he added.
The Kremlin has touted the Oreshnik as a "state-of-the art" weapon, which travels at hypersonic speeds, can hit targets across Europe and cannot be intercepted.
In a call on Friday, the leaders of Britain, France and Germany said Russia's use of the missile was "escalatory and unacceptable", according to a UK government spokeswoman.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Russia was using "fabricated allegations to justify the attack", according to the spokeswoman. Ukraine has denied targeting Putin's residence.
Lviv mayor Andriy Sadovy said on Facebook the strike was "a new level of threat -- not only for Ukraine, but also for the security of Europe".
The missile, named after the Russian word for hazel tree, was first fired on the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro in 2024.
- 'Psychological weapon' -
The choice of a new target located around 70 kilometres (40 miles) from the border with the European Union was significant, observers said.
"It is much closer to the EU's borders," Etienne Marcuz, an associate fellow at the Foundation for Strategic Research, a French think tank, said on X.
"This should probably be seen as a message to European countries," he said, adding the result of the strike was "probably more psychological than operational".
Some observers saw the strike as Putin's attempt to reassert his authority following setbacks including Washington's capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, the seizure of a Russian-flagged vessel in the North Atlantic and fresh demonstrations in Iran challenging Moscow-allied authorities.
"It is a psychological weapon -- an instrument of Putin's cognitive war against Ukraine and the West -- rather than a weapon of mass physical destruction," wrote Mick Ryan, a retired major general from the Australian army and Ukraine war analyst.
He said the use of the Oreshnik was a "sign of a fearful, worried leader and not one that is confident and anticipating victory".
The move could not hide the fact that Russia had little power "to shape events or respond to military contingencies involving its allies and friends beyond its borders," he added.
Timothy Ash, an emerging market economist focused on Russia, struck a similar note, pointing to relatively limited damage on the ground after the missile strike.
"The Oreshnik is highly effective but also very high cost, and from a cost benefit analysis it makes zero sense for these to be deployed in Ukraine," he wrote.
"The deployment of the Oreshnik therefore seemed more a PR exercise, perhaps aimed at the Trump administration signalling that Russia is unhappy more broadly about the state of play in the world," he added.
While Russia calls the Oreshnik a hypersonic missile, Western defence analysts say it is not a revolutionary weapon.
"It is most likely NOT a hypersonic missile," said Marcuz, adding Europe has a means of intercepting IRBMs.
"The Oreshnik's multiple warheads could pose a problem, depending on when they are released," he added.
In December, Putin's ally, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, said the weapon had been deployed in his country, which borders NATO's eastern flank.
© 2026 AFP
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