4 killed, 19 injured in Ukraine strikes, hypersonic missile launched
by Paul Godfrey · UPIJan. 9 (UPI) -- At least four people were killed and 19 injured after Russia launched large-scale strikes against Kyiv and across Ukraine overnight, with Moscow admitting it used a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile for only the second time ever.
The fatalities, all in Kyiv, included a paramedic who was killed when an apartment building where he was treating people in Darnytskyi district in the east of the capital was hit again in a so-called "double tap" strike that also injured four other paramedics, said Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
At least four neighborhoods were targeted with drones, damaging at least 20 residential buildings, as well as commercial buildings, in the Dniprovskyi, Pechersk and Desnianskyi districts and a fire in the Shevchenkivsky district.
The power and water supply were also interrupted in parts of the city amid heavy snowfall and temperatures of 14 degrees Fahrenheit. Metro services linking west and east Kyiv under the Dnipro River were also affected.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an online post that the Embassy of Qatar was damaged in the attacks involving 242 drones and 35 ballistic and cruise missiles targeting energy facilities and civilian infrastructure across the surrounding Kyiv and Chernihiv regions and in the far western Lviv province, which was hit with an Oreshnik hypersonic intermediate range ballistic missile.
It is believed the IRBM's target was believed to be a 17 billion cubic meter underground gas storage facility south of Lviv, providing more than half of Ukraine's total gas storage capacity. The site is around 50 miles from the Polish border.
The Russian Defense Ministry said it had deployed the weapon as part of a "massive high-precision long-range land-and sea-based weapons strike" against critical Ukrainian targets in retaliation for a Dec. 29 attack on Russian President Vladimir Putin's state residence.
In a statement published by the state-run TASS news agency, the ministry said the strike achieved its goals of hitting "facilities for producing drones used in the terrorist attack, as well as energy infrastructure supporting the operation of Ukraine's military-industrial complex."
"Any terrorist acts by the criminal Ukrainian regime will continue to be met with a response," said the ministry.
Kyiv and Washington have previously said the alleged attack on Putin's house in Novgorod province, northwest of Moscow, never happened.
The European Union's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, called Russia's reported use of the experimental missile "a clear escalation against Ukraine and meant as a warning to Europe and the United States."
"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," she wrote on X.
Kallas urged EU countries to send more of their air defense stockpiles to Ukraine immediately and impose tougher sanctions and other measures to push up the cost of the war for Moscow.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha condemned the use of a hypersonic missile in a post on X, saying it was a threat to Europe and beyond and called Moscow's justification "absurd."
"Such a strike close to the EU and NATO border is a grave threat to the security on the European continent and a test for the transatlantic community. We demand strong responses to Russia's reckless actions. We are informing the United States, European partners, and all countries and international organizations about the details of this dangerous strike through diplomatic channels.
"It is absurd that Russia attempts to justify this strike with the fake 'Putin residence attack'. More proof that Moscow does not need any real reasons for its terror and war," added Sybiha.
With a 17,000 mph top speed and 3,400 mile-maximum range during which they go sub-orbital and, like long-range Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, can be configured to deliver nuclear or conventional warheads.
The first reported use of an Oreshnik missile was against an aerospace plant in Dnipropetrovsk in November 2024 with Putin calling it "a combat test" in response to Ukraine using U.S. and British long-range missiles after then-U.S. President Joe Biden lifted restrictions on Army Tactical Missile Systems being used to attack Russian territory.
Putin said Russia had been forced to respond to "NATO's aggressive actions" and that threat levels to the security of the Russian Federation would determine the selection of subsequent test targets of the weapon for which he claimed there was no effective defense.
"We consider ourselves entitled to use our weapons against military facilities of those countries that allow others to use their weapons against our facilities, and in case of an escalation of aggressive actions, we will respond decisively and in mirror-like manner," he said.
Putin also asserted the right to attack Western countries that give Ukraine long-range defense weapons to counter Russia's invasion of Ukraine.