Russia attacked Ukraine overnight with the hypersonic Oreshnik missile, marking a rare use of one of its most advanced weapons as part of its latest assault on the country.
“The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation carried out a massive strike using high-precision, long-range ground- and sea-based weapons, including the mobile ground-based medium-range missile system Oreshnik,” Russia’s Ministry of Defense said in a statement today.
Oreshnik is one of Russia’s newest weapons. It travels at speeds of up to ten times the speed of sound and has a range that allows it to reach all of Europe, the head of Russia’s missile forces previously said.
The missile can carry multiple warheads and can be equipped with either conventional or nuclear payloads, CNN notes.
⚡️ ⚡️⚡️BREAKING: RUSSIA CONFIRMS STRIKE ON UKRAINE WITH “ORESHNIK”
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) January 9, 2026
Russia’s Ministry of Defense claimed the strike was a so-called “retaliation” for an attack on Putin’s residence — an attack that never actually happened.
Russian officials warn that such actions by Kyiv will… pic.twitter.com/coOxaEfLTa
Moscow first used the weapon in November 2024, when it struck the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, even though the system was not yet fully developed at the time.
Last month, Russia released footage it said showed the deployment of the Oreshnik missile system in close ally Belarus.
Russia said the overnight attack was carried out in response to an alleged Ukrainian attempt last month to strike the residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin, TASS reported.
That claim, it should be recalled, was made amid intense negotiations led by U.S. President Donald Trump and his envoys aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.
“Tonight, in response to a terrorist attack by the Kyiv regime on the residence of the President of the Russian Federation in the Novgorod Region, carried out on the night of December 29, 2025, the Russian Armed Forces launched a massive strike with high-precision long-range ground- and sea-based weapons, including the mobile ground-based medium-range missile system Oreshnik, as well as drone strikes on critical facilities on the territory of Ukraine,” the statement said.
Big fire illuminates night skies in Lviv region after Russian Oreshnik strike of Europe's largest underground gas storage facility. I saw such skies as child in Western Ukraine after gas pipeline explosion dozens kilometers away. There are reports of big gas pressure drop in Lviv… pic.twitter.com/8ofd11pxpB
— Ivan Katchanovski (@I_Katchanovski) January 8, 2026
They noted that “the targets have been achieved.”
“Facilities for the production of unmanned aerial vehicles used during the terrorist attack were hit, as well as energy infrastructure that ensures the operation of Ukraine’s military-industrial complex,” the Russian Defense Ministry added.
According to U.S. officials, the CIA assessed that Ukraine did not target the residence used by Putin.
The Oreshnik missile strike came just hours after Moscow reiterated that European troops deployed in Ukraine under any future peace agreement would be considered “legitimate targets,” and after the United States seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker on Wednesday.
Authorities in the western city of Lviv said several explosions were recorded, along with a ballistic missile strike on a critical infrastructure facility.
“The missile was moving at a speed of about 13,000 kilometers per hour along a ballistic trajectory,” the West Air Command of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a statement.
A speed of 13,000 kilometers per hour is roughly ten times the speed of sound.
In Kyiv, a CNN journalist said the attack began around midnight, starting with multiple drone strikes on residential buildings.
Streetlights flickered before large parts of the city were plunged into darkness, while thick fog descended on the streets and temperatures dropped to –5 degrees Celsius.
According to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, four people were killed in the attack and another ten were injured, while “critical infrastructure” was also damaged.
Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi wrote on Telegram that there was “no information” about casualties following the missile strike on the city. “Civilian facilities and residential buildings in the city were not hit,” he said.
In recent weeks, Russia has intensified attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure using drones and missiles, a tactic also employed during previous winters.
Those strikes have left tens of thousands of people across the country without electricity or heating amid freezing winter temperatures. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the goal of such attacks is “to cause chaos and exert psychological pressure on the population.”
The reports came just hours after the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine said it had “received information about a potentially significant air attack that could occur at any time over the next several days.”
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Source: Danas; Foto: Printscreen X