Russia launched one of its most devastating aerial barrages of the war against Ukraine overnight Sunday, firing hundreds of drones and missiles at Kyiv — including the powerful hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missile — in an attack that killed at least two people and wounded dozens more, according to Ukrainian officials.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Moscow used the Oreshnik missile during the assault, marking the third known deployment of the weapon since the war began more than four years ago.
The attack left destruction scattered across the Ukrainian capital and surrounding areas. Authorities reported damage near government facilities, apartment buildings, schools, markets, and commercial centers. Officials said at least 83 people were injured.
Zelenskyy stated on Telegram that the Oreshnik — a missile capable of carrying either nuclear or conventional warheads — struck the city of Bila Tserkva in the Kyiv region. Ukrainian officials did not immediately specify what the intended target had been.
Russia’s Defense Ministry later acknowledged using the Oreshnik along with multiple other missile systems during the overnight bombardment. Moscow claimed the strikes targeted Ukrainian “military command and control facilities,” airfields, and defense industry sites, though it did not identify specific locations.
Russian officials also insisted no civilian targets had been struck during the operation. According to Russian state media, the Defense Ministry described the attack as retaliation for Ukrainian strikes against “civilian facilities on Russian territory.”
The latest escalation came just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned a Ukrainian drone strike on a dormitory in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine. Moscow blamed Kyiv for the attack and accused Ukraine of targeting civilians.
Putin said there were no military or security installations near the dormitory and directed the Russian military to prepare retaliatory measures.
Russian emergency officials later announced that the death toll from the strike in Starobilsk had climbed to 21 after rescue operations concluded Saturday night. Another 42 people were reported wounded. Kremlin-backed authorities in the Luhansk region declared Sunday and Monday official days of mourning.
During an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council convened at Russia’s request, Ukrainian Ambassador Andrii Melnyk rejected Moscow’s allegations of war crimes.
He dismissed the accusations as a “pure propaganda show” and maintained that the May 22 attacks “exclusively targeted the Russian war machine.”
Since the opening months of the war, Ukraine and its Western allies have repeatedly accused Russia of deliberately attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure. The Kremlin has consistently denied those allegations.
Russia first introduced the Oreshnik missile into combat in November 2024 during a strike on Dnipro. The weapon was deployed again earlier this year in western Ukraine’s Lviv region.
According to Ukraine’s Air Force, Sunday’s attack involved approximately 600 drones and 90 missiles launched from air, sea, and ground platforms. Ukrainian defenses reportedly intercepted or jammed 549 drones and 55 missiles, while another 19 missiles failed to hit their intended targets.
Prior to the assault, Zelenskyy had warned that intelligence shared by the United States and other Western allies indicated Russia was preparing another Oreshnik strike.
European leaders quickly condemned the bombardment and the use of the hypersonic missile.
“Russia hit a dead-end on the battlefield, so it terrorizes Ukraine with deliberate strikes on city centers. These are abhorrent acts of terror meant to kill as many civilians as possible,” said Kaja Kallas in a post on X.
She added that European Union foreign ministers would soon meet to “discuss how to dial up the international pressure on Russia.”
Putin previously boasted that the Oreshnik — whose name translates to “hazelnut tree” in Russian — travels at Mach 10, or ten times the speed of sound, and can penetrate underground bunkers buried “three, four or more floors down.”
The Russian leader also claimed the missile moves “like a meteorite” and cannot be intercepted by any missile defense system. Putin argued that several conventionally armed Oreshnik missiles could inflict destruction comparable to a nuclear strike.
Throughout the night, air raid sirens echoed across Kyiv while fires and thick smoke spread throughout the city. Associated Press journalists reported hearing massive explosions near downtown government buildings.
Zelenskyy acknowledged that not every incoming ballistic missile had been intercepted and said Kyiv was the primary focus of the Russian attack.
The strike also highlighted Ukraine’s continuing shortage of advanced air defense interceptors. Kyiv relies heavily on U.S.-supplied Patriot missile system batteries to stop ballistic missiles, but officials say interceptor supplies remain critically low.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry has accelerated efforts to develop a domestically produced alternative system, though officials admit the project will require enormous resources and time.
Military analysts suggested Russia may have intentionally flooded Kyiv with large numbers of ballistic missiles in hopes of draining Ukraine’s limited stockpile ahead of an anticipated escalation later this summer.
Ukraine’s emergency services reported damage at roughly 50 sites across the capital, including homes, schools, shopping centers, police facilities, and warehouses.
Firefighters continued battling blazes well into the morning as rescue crews searched through collapsed buildings.
“It was a terrible night, and there had never been anything like it in the entire war,” said Kyiv resident Svitlana Onofryichuk, 55, who had worked in the market that was damaged for 22 years.
“I am very sorry that I have to say goodbye to Kyiv now, I am not staying there anymore, there is no possibility,” she added. “My job is gone, everything is gone, everything has burned down.”
Another resident, 74-year-old Yevhen Zosin, described the terrifying moments after the blasts began.
“Then there was another explosion and she and I were thrown back like a pin by the shock wave. We both survived, she and I. My apartment was blown to pieces,” he said.
In Kyiv’s Shevchenko district, officials said a five-story apartment building was struck, sparking a deadly fire that killed one person.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a school building was also damaged while civilians were sheltering inside. Authorities reported that supermarkets and storage facilities around the city sustained heavy damage as well.
Regional governor Mykola Kalashnyk said several communities across the broader Kyiv region also suffered destruction.
Meanwhile, Russian authorities reported that a Ukrainian drone strike killed one civilian in the town of Grayvoron near the Ukrainian border.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces intercepted or electronically disabled 33 Ukrainian drones overnight, including aircraft flying over the Moscow region, western Russia, southwestern Russia, and Russian-occupied Crimea.
