New Delhi: European leaders have strongly condemned Russia following Moscow’s latest large-scale missile and drone assault on Ukraine, which reportedly involved the Oreshnik hypersonic missile and renewed concerns over escalation in the ongoing war.
The criticism came after Russian strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian regions on Saturday night killed at least four people and injured around 100, according to Ukrainian authorities and media reports. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the capital bore the brunt of the attack, although several other areas were also hit.
Explosions echoed across Kyiv through the night as Russia launched hundreds of drones alongside dozens of missiles. Residential buildings, a school, an opera house and a museum were among the structures damaged in the strikes, the BBC reported.
Zelensky condemned the assault, accusing Moscow of deliberately targeting civilian areas. In a Telegram post cited by international media, the Ukrainian president described Russia’s actions as irrational, saying: “They are genuinely deranged.”
The latest strikes drew sharp criticism from European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, who described Russia’s reported use of the Oreshnik missile as “reckless nuclear brinkmanship”.
According to The Guardian, Kallas said Moscow had “hit a dead-end on the battlefield” and was now “terrorizing Ukraine with deliberate strikes on city centres”. Calling the attacks “abhorrent acts of terror meant to kill as many civilians as possible,” she warned that the reported use of a missile system capable of carrying nuclear warheads amounted to political intimidation.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said the strikes were carried out in response to what it claimed were Ukrainian attacks on civilian infrastructure. Moscow also confirmed the use of the Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile, describing it as retaliation for an alleged Ukrainian strike on a student dormitory in Starobilsk, a town in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine, that killed 21 people. However, Ukraine said its forces had targeted an elite Russian drone military unit in the area and denied attacking civilians, according to the BBC.
The Oreshnik missile, reportedly capable of travelling at more than 10 times the speed of sound, is considered difficult to intercept and can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads. Reports suggest Russia has now used the weapon multiple times during the conflict.
The attack came days after Zelensky warned that Russia appeared to be preparing a major offensive and could deploy advanced missile systems.
Meanwhile, Russian regions bordering Ukraine also reported retaliatory strikes. The BBC reported that missile attacks damaged energy infrastructure in Russia’s Belgorod region, disrupting electricity and water supply in some areas, though no casualties were reported. Drone activity was also reported in the Yaroslavl region northeast of Moscow.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and the conflict has continued with periodic escalations, mounting casualties and growing international concern over broader regional instability.
