Russia struck the Kyiv region with a hypersonic RS-26 Rubezh ballistic missile, known as the Oreshnik, on Sunday, RBK-Ukraine reported, citing Yuri Ignat, spokesman for the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The missile was fired from the Kapustin Yar missile test base and reportedly struck an area near the town of Bila Tserkva. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also confirmed the use of the Oreshnik, according to Reuters.
Russian forces said they struck targets in Ukraine with four types of missiles — Oreshnik, Iskander, Kinzhal and Zirkon — in retaliation for what they described as Ukrainian attacks on civilian targets in Russia on Sunday night, TASS reported. The Russian Defense Ministry told Interfax that the strikes targeted Ukrainian military command facilities, air bases and enterprises of Ukraine's military-industrial complex, and that all had been successful.
Serhiy Sternenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian defense ministry, said Russia had fired a nuclear-capable missile without a nuclear warhead in order to intimidate Ukraine and the wider world.
The Ukrainian air force said Russia launched 600 drones and 90 missiles in the attack. According to preliminary data, 604 targets — 55 missiles and 549 drones of various types — had been shot down or suppressed by air defenses as of 9:30 a.m.
Zelensky had warned earlier on Saturday, citing intelligence from Ukraine, the US and Europe, that Russia was preparing an attack using the Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile. The warning came a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the military to prepare options to retaliate against Ukraine for a drone attack on a student dormitory in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine. The attack killed 21 people, according to TASS. The Ukrainian military has denied responsibility.
"We are seeing signs of preparation for a combined strike on Ukrainian territory, including Kyiv, involving various types of weaponry. The specified intermediate-range weapons could be used in such a strike", Zelensky wrote on X.
Russia has used the Oreshnik against Ukraine twice before. Putin has claimed the missile cannot be intercepted, citing its alleged speed of more than ten times the speed of sound.
"We are drawing the attention of our partners in the United States and in Europe to the fact that the use of such weapons and the prolongation of this war also sets a global precedent for other potential aggressors", Zelensky said.
(reuters, rbk-ukraine, unian, luc)