Russia claims to have fired Oreshnik hypersonic missile at Ukraine | EUROtoday

Russia says it has fired the Oreshnik hypersonic medium-range missile into western Ukraine. On Friday evening, the Russian armed forces attacked “strategic targets” in Ukraine with the assistance of the Oreshnik, the Russian Defense Ministry stated. It was the second assault with a missile of this sort on Ukraine.

“Russian armed forces launched a massive strike with long-range ground and sea-based high-precision weapons against critical objects on the territory of Ukraine, including the Oreshnik medium-range complex and drones,” the company stated in an announcement. According to the Defense Ministry, the assaults focused Ukrainian drone manufacturing amenities and vitality infrastructure.

The ministry didn’t give additional particulars in regards to the assaults, however stated they have been carried out “in response to the Kiev regime’s terrorist attack” on a residence of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin in late December – an accusation that Ukraine has rejected as a “lie”.

In the previous, Moscow has at all times claimed the best to reply to resonant assaults towards its personal targets with severe assaults on Ukraine.

The Oreshnik assault on western Ukraine is the second use of a missile of this sort on Ukraine. The first occurred in November 2024 within the giant metropolis of Dnipro within the southeast of the nation. At that point, Putin justified the operation as retaliation for Kiev’s use of long-range Western missiles towards navy targets within the Russian hinterland.

According to Russian President Putin, the brand new rocket reaches a pace of greater than 12,000 kilometers per hour. It was stationed in Belarus, which is intently allied with Russia, in mid-December, as Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko introduced on the time. The nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile was first utilized in November 2024 – and not using a nuclear load – towards an arms manufacturing unit in Dnipro in central Ukraine.

This time, nevertheless, the rocket was loaded with standard warheads. According to the navy, the operation was now profitable. The goal of the strike had been achieved. “Objects for the production of drones used in the terrorist attack (on the presidential residence) and energy infrastructure that enable the work of Ukraine’s defense complex were hit,” it stated. Moscow will proceed to reply to terrorist assaults sooner or later, the navy threatened additional doable strikes with Oreshnik.

Since the start of the struggle, Russia has been systematically shelling vitality provide amenities in its neighboring nation. Ukraine’s infrastructure is now so weakened that the inhabitants typically has to endure many hours a day at the hours of darkness and chilly. The scenario is made even worse by the present drop in temperatures in lots of areas of Ukraine.

Note: This publish has been up to date.