Russia Fires Hypersonic Missile At Target In Ukraine Near NATO Border

Kyiv : Russia fired a powerful hypersonic missile overnight at a target in Ukraine near the border with NATO-member Poland, in what Kyiv's European allies on Friday described as an attempt to intimidate them from supporting Ukraine.

It was only the second time Russia has fired the Oreshnik at Ukraine, and came amid a night of air attacks that Ukrainian authorities said also killed four people in Kyiv, knocked out power in the capital and damaged the Qatari embassy there.

The Oreshnik, an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) designed to project power across Europe and which Moscow says is impossible to intercept, can carry nuclear warheads although there was no suggestion it had done so. A senior Ukrainian official said it appeared to be carrying inert "dummy" warheads.

The strike appeared aimed at cowing Ukraine at a crucial juncture in talks to end the war, analysts said. It happened after a week of setbacks for Russia, including the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Moscow said it fired the Oreshnik missile in response to what it calls an attempted drone attack on one of Putin's residences last month, which Ukraine denies and the United States has said did not happen.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said a strike close to EU and NATO borders posed "a grave threat to security".

"It is absurd that Russia attempts to justify this strike with the fake 'Putin residence attack' that never happened," he wrote on X. "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."

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the strike was "demonstrably" close to EU states and warned Ukraine's neighbours to take note of the dangers.

"From the standpoint of the use of medium-range ballistics, this is the same challenge for Warsaw, Bucharest, Budapest, and many other capitals," he said in his nightly video address. "Everyone should understand it in the same way, and take it equally seriously."

EU DENOUNCES 'CLEAR ESCALATION'

It took place days after a summit where European countries pledged to offer troops for Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire and Washington backed giving security guarantees for Kyiv.

"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.," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on X.

"EU countries must dig deeper into their air defence stocks and deliver now. We must also further raise the cost of this war for Moscow, including through tougher sanctions."

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who spoke to the leaders of France and Britain, said: "Threatening gestures are intended to instil fear, but they will not work. We stand with Ukraine."

The senior Ukrainian official said the missile had struck the workshop of a state enterprise in the western city of Lviv near 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.

Separately, the SBU state security service said Russia had attempted to destroy civilian infrastructure in the surrounding region amid "rapidly deteriorating weather conditions".

Moscow said it hit energy infrastructure and a factory that made drones used in the attack on Putin's residence.

Kyiv has called Moscow's allegation that it attacked Putin's residence in the Novgorod region of northern Russia on December 29 "an absurd lie" to sabotage peace talks. U.S. President Donald Trump has said he does not believe it happened, although something else happened in the area.

CASUALTIES, POWER SUPPLIES DISRUPTED IN ATTACK ON KYIV

Russia fired a total of 242 drones and 36 missiles, including the Oreshnik, to hit infrastructure in the western Lviv region and in and around Kyiv, Ukraine said.

One of the four people killed in Kyiv was Serhiy Smoliak, 56, an emergency medic who came to help survivors at a suburban apartment hit by a drone and was killed in a follow-up strike. His body lay covered on snowy ground near a road. Four other medics and five rescuers were wounded there.

Authorities said more than 20 people were injured and electricity was knocked out to more than half a million homes.

With temperatures forecast to fall to -10 Celsius (14°F) overnight, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said heating had been restored to nearly 1,100 apartment buildings -- of 6,000 affected by the strikes. Residents sheltered underground on mattresses and chairs, some wrapped in blankets.

Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said repair crews were working around the clock to restore heat and power in Kyiv.

Qatar confirmed that its embassy was damaged and said no one was hurt. The country has occasionally acted as a mediator in the conflict.

The Oreshnik was fired just before midnight, according to Lviv regional officials. The Ukrainian military said the missile was moving at a speed of 13,000 km per hour.

Moscow first fired an Oreshnik – Russian for "hazel tree" - against what it said was a military factory in Ukraine in November 2024. Ukrainian sources said that missile carried dummy warheads, not explosives, and caused limited damage.

On Tuesday, Britain and France announced plans to deploy troops in Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire - prompting Moscow to respond that it would view foreign soldiers as legitimate combat targets. The British defence minister, John Healey, was in Kyiv to discuss a potential future deployment.