In the early hours of Friday, Russia launched a hypersonic missile at Ukraine near the border with Poland, NATO’s eastern frontier, in what Kyiv and European leaders called a show of force.
The strike came during a night of widespread attacks that left four people dead in Kyiv, cut power to hundreds of thousands of homes, and caused damage to the Qatari embassy.
Analysts said the timing suggests Moscow sought to pressure Ukraine and its European supporters as talks on ending the war continue.
The missile, called the Oreshnik, is an intermediate-range ballistic weapon capable of carrying nuclear warheads, though Ukrainian officials reported it was loaded with inert “dummy” warheads.
According to a senior Ukrainian official, the missile hit a state enterprise workshop in Lviv, close to the Polish border. “Impact from several submunitions caused minor penetrations of concrete structures at the workshop and made craters in the forest area,” the official told Reuters.
Ukraine’s SBU state security service added that Russia also targeted surrounding civilian infrastructure, despite worsening weather conditions.
Moscow said the attack was in retaliation for a supposed drone strike on one of President Vladimir Putin’s residences last month, a claim Ukraine denies and which the United States has said did not occur. Kyiv rejected the allegation, calling it “an absurd lie” designed to disrupt peace talks.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha reacted on X: “Such a strike close to EU and NATO border is a grave threat to the security on the European continent and a test for the transatlantic community.”
He added: “It is absurd that Russia attempts to justify this strike with the fake 'Putin residence attack' that never happened. Putin uses an IRBM near EU and NATO border in response to his own hallucinations — this is truly a global threat. And it demands global responses.”
European officials also condemned the attack. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said: “Russia’s reported use of an Oreshnik missile is a clear escalation against Ukraine and meant as a warning to Europe and to the U.S.”
She called for stronger air defenses and additional sanctions on Moscow. Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz said: “Threatening gestures are intended to instil fear, but they will not work. We stand with Ukraine.”
In Kyiv, one of the four killed was 56-year-old emergency medic Serhiy Smoliak, who died while helping survivors of a drone strike on a suburban apartment. Four other medics and five rescuers were wounded, and more than 20 people were injured overall.
Over half a million homes lost electricity during sub-zero temperatures, forcing residents to take shelter underground. By Friday afternoon, power had been restored in most areas, but 5,800 buildings remained without heating.
The Qatari embassy confirmed damage but no injuries. Ukraine said Russia had launched a total of 36 missiles and 242 drones, including the Oreshnik hypersonic missile traveling at 13,000 km per hour.
Moscow first used this weapon in November 2024 against a factory in Ukraine, which Ukrainian sources said only carried dummy warheads and caused minor damage.
The escalation comes after Britain and France announced plans to deploy troops to Ukraine if a ceasefire occurs, prompting Russia to warn that foreign forces in the country would be considered legitimate targets.
