KYIV, Jan 9 (Reuters) – Russia fired a powerful hypersonic missile at Ukraine near the EU border overnight, in what Kyiv called a new threat to European security that demanded a global response.
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, which 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 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 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 border with Poland. Moscow said it hit a drone factory and energy infrastructure. Ukrainian officials said it hit unspecified infrastructure; local media reported that it struck a large underground gas storage site.
CASUALTIES, POWER SUPPLIES DISRUPTED IN ATTACK ON KYIV
Russia fired a total of 242 drones and 36 missiles, including Oreshnik, to hit infrastructure in the western Lviv region and in and around the capital Kyiv, Ukraine said.
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. Water and heat were cut off, with temperatures around -10 degrees Celsius (14°F) and heavy snow.
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.
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. On that occasion Ukrainian sources said the missile was carrying dummy warheads, not explosives, and caused limited damage.
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 is seeking to thrash out with Kyiv before presenting it to Russia.
(Reporting by Olena Harmash and Andrew OsbornWriting by Matthias Williams)
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