Russia uses hypersonic Oreshnik missile in mass attack on Kyiv

The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed on Sunday that it has used the Oreshnik and other missile types to attack Ukrainian “military command and control facilities”, air bases and military-industrial enterprises.

The whereabouts of the targets were not specified. The ministry added that the attack was in retaliation for Ukrainian attacks on “civilian facilities on Russian territory,” without providing details.

A separate statement on social media hours later said no civilian sites were targeted in the overnight attack on Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday denounced a drone attack on a student dormitory in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine, which Moscow blamed on Kiev, and ordered the Russian military to submit its proposals for retaliation. He said there were no military or law enforcement facilities near the college.

The death toll from the strike in Starobilsk had risen to 21 when search and rescue operations ended, the press service of Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said late on Saturday. It was said that 42 other people had been injured in the attack the previous night. The Kremlin-installed authorities of the Luhansk region announced two days of mourning on Sunday and Monday to honor the victims.

At an emergency UN Security Council meeting on the strike, held at Russia’s request, Ukrainian Ambassador Andrii Melnyk denied his Russian counterpart’s accusations of war crimes, calling them a “pure propaganda show” and claiming the May 22 operations were “aimed exclusively at the Russian war machine.”

Ukraine and its allies have accused Russia of routinely attacking civilians and key civilian infrastructure since the early days of the war. The Kremlin denies this.

Russia says the Oreshnik is immune to any missile defense system

Russia first used the multi-warhead Oreshnik on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro in November 2024. It was used for a second time in January in the western region of Lviv.

According to the Ukrainian Air Force, the latest combined attack included 600 attack drones and 90 air, sea and ground missiles. Ukrainian air defenses destroyed and jammed 549 drones and 55 missiles. About 19 missiles failed to reach their targets, the Air Force said.

Earlier, Zelenskyy warned that Russia planned to use the Oreshnik, citing intelligence from the US and Western partners.

Kyiv’s European allies, including France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Friedrich Merz, condemned the Russian attacks and use of the Oreshnik in online statements published on Sunday.

“Russia has reached a dead end on the battlefield and that is why it is terrorizing Ukraine with deliberate attacks on city centers. These are heinous acts of terror aimed at killing as many civilians as possible,” Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, wrote on X.

She added that top diplomats from EU countries would meet within days to “discuss how to increase international pressure on Russia.”

President Vladimir Putin previously said the Oreshnik, which means “hazelnut tree” in Russian, has ten times the speed of sound, or Mach 10, and is capable of destroying underground bunkers “three, four or more floors below.”

The weapon travels “like a meteorite” and is immune to any missile defense system, Putin said, adding that several such missiles, even equipped with conventional warheads, could be as devastating as a nuclear attack.

Air raid sirens blared through the night as smoke billowed through the city from the strikes. Associated Press reporters heard powerful explosions near the city center and close to government buildings.

Kiev residents who have stayed so far are considering moving

Damage was recorded at 50 locations in several districts of the capital, including residential buildings, shopping centers and schools, the Ukrainian Emergency Service said in a Telegram post. Police buildings were also damaged, the report said.

The fires continued to rage into the morning, complicating rescue efforts as buildings collapsed from the blasts.

“It was a terrible night, and nothing like this has ever happened in the entire war,” said Svitlana Onofryichuk, a 55-year-old Kiev resident who had worked in the damaged market for 22 years.

“I am very sorry that I now have to say goodbye to Kiev. I will not stay there anymore, it is impossible,” she added.

“My job is gone, everything is gone, everything burned down.”

Yevhen Zosin, 74, a Kiev resident who witnessed the attack, said that as soon as he heard the explosion he rushed to grab his dog.

“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.

Attack highlights Ukraine’s air defense missile shortage

Zelenskyy said that not all ballistic missiles were intercepted and that most of the attacks hit Kiev, which was the main target of the attack.

The attack and apparent interception failures underscored Ukraine’s chronic shortage of ballistics-capable air defense missile systems. Kiev relies heavily on U.S. Patriot air defense systems to intercept such weapons, but interceptor missiles remain in short supply and are among Ukraine’s most urgent requests to its Western partners.

Developing a domestically produced alternative has become a top priority for the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, although this will require significant time and funding.

By saturating Kiev with large numbers of ballistic missiles on Sunday, Russia could also try to deplete Ukraine’s limited supplies ahead of what could be an even more intense wave of attacks this summer.

In Kiev’s Shevchenko district, a five-story residential building was hit, causing a fire. One person was killed, the Ukrainian State Emergency Service reported.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a school building was damaged in an attack while people took shelter inside. Local authorities reported that supermarkets and warehouses in the city were also damaged.

According to Mykola Kalashnyk, the regional governor, several communities recorded damage throughout the Kiev region.

Elsewhere, a Ukrainian drone killed a civilian in the Russian town of Grayvoron, in the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, local authorities said on Sunday morning.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces shot down or jammed 33 Ukrainian drones overnight Sunday, including over the Moscow region, western and southwestern Russia and Russian-occupied Crimea.

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