Russia attacked Ukraine with a hypersonic Oreshnik missile overnight Thursday, a rare use of one of its most advanced weapons during the latest onslaught targeting the country amid freezing temperatures.
The strike marks the first time in more than a year that Moscow has unleashed the Oreshnik, which can contain multiple warheads and carry either conventional or nuclear payloads.
“The Russian Armed Forces launched a massive strike with high-precision long-range land- and sea-based weapons, including the Oreshnik mobile medium-range ground-based missile system,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement Friday.
While Russia did not say where the Oreshnik hit, several explosions and a ballistic missile strike on a critical infrastructure facility were reported by authorities in the western city of Lviv.
The missile was “moving at a speed of about 13,000 kilometers per hour along a ballistic trajectory,” an earlier statement from the Air Command “West” of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said. It added the type of missile would be determined after its components had been examined.
A speed of 13,000 kilometers per hour is about 10 times the speed of sound.
The Oreshnik can reach of those kinds of speeds, with a range that allows it to reach all of Europe, Russia’s missile forces chief has said.
Last month, Russia released video of what it said was the deployment of the Oreshnik missile system on the territory of close ally Belarus. Moscow used it for the first time in November 2024, striking the Ukrainian city of Dnipro even though the weapon was not fully developed at the time.
Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said Friday that “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,” in a post on X.
“We demand strong responses to Russia’s reckless actions.”
Russia said it launched its latest attack in response to Ukraine’s purported attempt to hit Russian President Vladimir Putin’s home last month.
The CIA has assessed Ukraine was not targeting a residence used by Putin, according to US officials. Moscow’s claim that it was came amid intensive talks led by US President Donald Trump and his envoys to end the war in Ukraine
The Oreshnik strike came hours after Moscow repeated that European troops deployed to Ukraine as part of any future peace deal would be considered “legitimate targets,” and the seizing of a Russian-flagged oil tanker by the United States on Wednesday.
