Russia attacks Ukraine with an Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile, but without a nuclear warhead

BarcelonaRussia launched a large-scale missile and drone attack against Ukraine early this morning, killing at least four people and wounding nineteen in Kyiv, according to local authorities. The offensive, which affected several regions of the country, included the use of a ballistic missile. hypersonic Oreshnik, with nuclear capability, although it was equipped with conventional warheads.

The attack, which occurred three days after the The Volunteer Coalition will take shape in Paris Security guarantees for Ukraine further and significantly escalate military tensions and prove that the Kremlin is not interested in reaching a negotiated ceasefire. US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, met on Wednesday in Paris with Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev to discuss Washington's peace plan for Ukraine, according to reports.Axios, citing an unidentified source.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for a "clear reaction from the world," especially from the United States. "Russia must receive signals that it has an obligation to focus on diplomacy, and it must feel the consequences every time it returns to focusing on assassinations and the destruction of infrastructure," he wrote to X. The hypersonic missile targeted the city located kilometers from the Polish border. The Oreshnik was launched from the Kapustin Iar test range in Russia's Astrakhan region, on the Caspian Sea, which in this case is about 1,300 kilometers from the targeted city. This intermediate-range missile is capable of reaching speeds of up to 13,000 kilometers per hour and is designed to cover distances of between 1,000 and 5,500 kilometers. Until now, only one previous use of this weapon had been confirmed, in November 2024, against Dnipro, in central Ukraine. According to information provided by the Russian Ministry of Defense, the operation is a "response to the terrorist attack by the Kyiv regime" against a residence of President Vladimir Putin in the Novgorod region on December 29, a drone attack that Ukraine has categorically denied. In its statement, in addition to announcing the use of the Oreshnik, Moscow claims to have attacked "vital infrastructure" in Ukraine using medium- and long-range missiles launched from land and sea, as well as with attack drones, and asserts that it destroyed energy facilities. According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia launched a total of 36 missiles and 242 drones, of which air defenses were able to shoot down 18 and 226, respectively.

Four dead in Kiiv

In Kyiv, the attack has had particularly serious consequences. Among the fatalities is a paramedic, killed in an attack by gunmen. double stopper –two successive impacts on the same target– while assisting civilians in the Darnitsky district, according to the mayor of the capital, Vitali Klitschko. Fourteen of the nineteen injured have had to be hospitalized. Several neighborhoods of the city, such as Dniprovsky and Darnitsky, suffered fires in residential buildings, while the Petchersk, Desnyansky, and Shevchenko districts sustained damage from drone strikes or falling debris intercepted by air defenses. In the eastern outskirts of the capital, in Brovari, emergency services rescued an entire family, including a five-year-old child, from the rubble.

The explosions began around 11:45 p.m. local time on Thursday, after the Ukrainian air force warned of a ballistic missile and drone threat heading toward the Ukrainian capital. Throughout the early morning, and according to reports The Kyiv IndependentNew air raid alerts have been issued across the country, coinciding with the detection of Russian fighter jets. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had already warned hours earlier that Russia was preparing a large-scale attack and had urged the population to heed air raid alerts and take shelter. Despite ongoing diplomatic contacts, Moscow maintains its strategy of bombing energy infrastructure in the middle of winter, with the aim of leaving entire regions without basic supplies.