Russia fired a powerful hypersonic missile overnight at a target in Ukraine near the border with NATO member Poland, in what Kyiv on Friday called a new threat to European security that demanded a global reaction.
– Moscow said it had fired the Oreshnik missile in response to what it has described as an attempted drone attack on one of President Vladimir Putin’s residences last month
– Ukraine has denied and the United States has said did not happen.
– It was only the second time Russia has fired the Oreshnik at Ukraine, and came amid a night of air attacks that Ukrainian authorities said also killed four people in Kyiv, knocked out power in the city and damaged the Qatari embassy there.
– “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,” Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said
– “It is absurd that Russia attempts to justify this strike with the fake ‘Putin residence attack’ that never happened,” he added.
– “Putin uses an IRBM near EU and NATO border in response to his own hallucinations — this is truly a global threat. And it demands global responses.”
– Kyiv has called Moscow’s allegation that it attacked Putin’s residence in the Novgorod region of northern Russia on December 29 “an absurd lie” to sabotage peace talks.
– U.S. President Donald Trump has said he does not believe it happened, although something else happened in the area.
– The Oreshnik hit the Lviv region in western Ukraine, around 60 kilometres (40 miles) from the Polish border.
– Moscow said it hit a drone factory and energy infrastructure. Ukrainian officials said it hit unspecified infrastructure.
– “Russia’s reported use of an Oreshnik missile is a clear escalation against Ukraine and meant as a warning to Europe and to the US,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on X.
– “EU countries must dig deeper into their air defence stocks and deliver now. We must also further raise the cost of this war for Moscow, including through tougher sanctions.”
– There was no immediate word from Qatar about reports of damage to the building housing its embassy in Kyiv.
– Qatar has occasionally acted as a mediator in the conflict.
– The Oreshnik was fired just before midnight, according to Lviv regional officials.
– The Ukrainian military said the missile was moving at a speed of 13,000 km per hour.
– “The strike’s targets were hit,” Russia’s Defence Ministry said in a statement, describing the targets as a factory producing drones used in the alleged attack against Putin’s residence, as well as energy infrastructure.
– Moscow first fired an Oreshnik – Russian for “hazel tree” – against what it said was a military factory in Ukraine in November 2024.
– Ukrainian sources said that missile carried dummy warheads, not explosives, and caused limited damage.
– “Its latest use raises a question of whether this was an old test round or a new production missile,” said Doug Barry, a defence aerospace specialist.
– Ukrainian and U.S. envoys, joined by a coalition of Ukraine’s allies, have been negotiating in Paris this week to iron out remaining disagreements in a peace framework Washington wants to thrash out with Kyiv before presenting it to Russia.
– Moscow has shown scant inclination to drop its maximalist demands.