Russia Fires Nuclear-Capable Oreshnik Missile in Massive Kyiv Barrage

Russia launched a barrage of about 600 drones and 90 missiles at Ukraine overnight Sunday, including its nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile for the third time in the war, killing at least four people and wounding dozens, according to Newsweek and Al Jazeera. Russia’s Defense Ministry confirmed the Oreshnik launch, both outlets reported.

Al Jazeera reported that two of the dead were in Kyiv and two in the surrounding region, and that Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko counted 81 wounded in the capital while the regional head reported nine more. Newsweek put the number of wounded at about 100. Ukraine’s air force said 549 drones and 55 missiles were destroyed or jammed and 19 missiles failed to reach their targets, according to Al Jazeera. Russia said it also used Iskander, Kinzhal and Tsirkon missiles, Al Jazeera reported.

Damage was recorded at about 40 locations in Kyiv, including residential buildings, according to Newsweek and Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera reported that Ukraine’s cabinet building and Foreign Ministry sustained minor damage, and that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said more than 40 percent of the Chernobyl Museum was “irretrievably lost.” Newsweek quoted Zelenskyy saying around 30 residential buildings were damaged or destroyed.

Zelenskyy said the Oreshnik struck near Bila Tserkva in the Kyiv region but did not say what it targeted, Newsweek reported. Russia said it hit military command facilities, air bases and military-industrial enterprises, and the state news agency TASS, citing officials, said no civilian sites were targeted, according to Newsweek. The Oreshnik was previously used against Dnipro in November 2024 and the Lviv region in January. Newsweek said the missile can carry nuclear warheads, and noted that Russian officials’ claims that it travels faster than Mach 10 cannot be independently verified. Al Jazeera reported that footage reviewed by the Centre for Information Resilience suggests the warhead split into 36 submunitions.

Moscow described the assault as retaliation for Ukrainian attacks on civilian infrastructure in Russia and had vowed to punish those responsible for a drone strike on a dormitory in occupied Starobilsk, which it said killed at least 18 people, Al Jazeera reported.

Zelenskyy had warned earlier in the week of the planned Oreshnik use, citing U.S. and European intelligence, and called for “concrete steps” to strengthen air defenses, and said missile deliveries must continue without interruption, Newsweek reported. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called the use of the Oreshnik “political intimidation” and “reckless nuclear brinkmanship,” and foreign ministers are to discuss more pressure on Russia at their next meeting, according to Newsweek and Al Jazeera. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron also condemned the attack, Al Jazeera reported.

Newsweek’s report included no reaction from Washington. The strikes followed an expanded Ukrainian long-range drone campaign inside Russia that has hit military and energy sites, including areas near Moscow, Newsweek reported. The Kyiv Independent reported separately that Ukraine’s security service said its drones struck the Vtorovo oil pumping station in Russia’s Vladimir region overnight, causing a large fire.