AT LEAST four people were killed and 19 others injured in Kiev after Russia pummelled Ukraine with missiles and drones overnight, using its nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile to target western Ukraine.
Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Friday that a doctor was among the dead, while four medical workers were injured. Critical infrastructure had been hit in the attack, and some parts of the city were without power or water, he wrote on Telegram.
The Russian Defence Ministry said on Telegram that the strikes were carried out in response to an alleged “terrorist attack” by Kiev on a residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin on December 29, 2025.
Facilities producing unmanned aerial vehicles used in the alleged attack, as well as energy infrastructure, were hit, according to the ministry.
Moscow has claimed Ukraine attempted to attack Putin’s Valdai residence in western Russia with 91 drones, all of which it said were shot down. Experts have questioned the account presented by Russia.
Ukraine has rejected the accusations and accuses Moscow of using the false claim to justify strikes on government buildings.
In the west of Ukraine, the Western Command of Ukraine’s Air Force earlier said a Russian strike on Lviv was conducted using an unidentified ballistic missile.
The Ukrainian military reported that the missile was launched from the Kapustin Yar test area in Russia’s Astrakhan, a known launch site for the Oreshnik medium-range ballistic missile.
Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said explosions had been recorded in Lviv, but there was currently no information about casualties. Civilian facilities and residential buildings in the city were not damaged, he added.
The Russian Defence Ministry said the Oreshnik missile was used as part of the attacks on western Ukraine, marking the second strike on Ukraine involving the weapon.
“The Russian armed forces have launched a massive strike with ground- and sea-based high-precision long-range weapons against critical targets in Ukraine, including the Oreshnik medium-range complex and drones,” the ministry said in a statement quoted by state news agency TASS.
Russia first fired an Oreshnik missile at Ukraine’s industrial city of Dnipro in November 2024.
At the time, Putin justified the strike as retaliation for Kiev’s use of long-range Western weapons against military targets in the Russian hinterland.
Putin has claimed that Western air defence systems are incapable of intercepting the Oreshnik, which means hazel shrub in Russian. He has also said it could hit targets as far away as Western Europe.
The first Oreshnik missile deployed against Ukraine did not carry warheads, with damage caused solely by its high speed.
Still in testing at the time, the weapon can carry conventional and nuclear warheads and, with speeds up to 12,000 kilometres per hour and a range of 5,000 kilometres, poses a potential threat to Europe.
The second Oreshnik targeting Ukraine was carrying conventional warheads, according to the Russian military. (dpa/NAN)
