Russia fires hypersonic Oreshnik missile at target near Ukraine’s border with NATO

MOSCOW – Russia fired a powerful hypersonic missile overnight at a target in Ukraine near the border with NATO member Poland, in what Kyiv on Jan 9 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 in November, which Ukraine has denied and the United States has said did not happen.

It was only the second time that Russia has fired the Oreshnik at Ukraine, and came amid a night of air attacks that the Ukrainian authorities said killed four people in Kyiv, knocked out power in the capital and damaged the Qatari embassy there.

The Oreshnik, designed to project power across Europe and which Moscow says is impossible to intercept, is capable of carrying nuclear warheads, although there was no suggestion it had done so.

“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 on X.

“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 Russia’s allegation that it attacked Mr Putin’s residence in the Novgorod region
of northern Russia on Dec 29 “an absurd lie” to sabotage peace talks.

US President Donald Trump has said he doesn’t believe it happened, although something else happened in the area.

The Oreshnik hit the Lviv region in western Ukraine, around 60km 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.”

Casualties, power supplies disrupted in attack on Kyiv

Russia fired a total of 242 drones and 36 missiles, including the Oreshnik, to hit infrastructure in the western Lviv region and in and around the capital Kyiv, Ukraine said.

The authorities said at least four people were killed and more than 20 injured by the strikes on Kyiv, which knocked out electricity to more than half a million homes in the capital.

Amid heavy snow and temperatures of around -10 deg C, water and heat were cut off, and Ukrainians were sheltering underground on mattresses and chairs, some wrapped in blankets.

One of those killed was an emergency medic who had arrived at a suburban apartment hit by two drones in succession, Kyiv’s mayor said. His body lay covered on snowy ground near a road.

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 13,000kmh.

“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 Mr Putin’s residence, as well as energy infrastructure.

Russian war correspondents released video purportedly showing the moment the Oreshnik struck its target in western Ukraine.

Filmed across a snow-covered landscape, what looked like six flashes were seen striking the ground, followed by a loud bang and a series of detonations.

Reuters could not immediately verify the authenticity of the video.

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 Mr Doug Barry, a defence aerospace specialist at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Ukrainian and US 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 is seeking to thrash out with Kyiv before presenting it to Russia.

Moscow has shown scant inclination to drop its maximalist demands. REUTERS