Russia attacks Ukraine with nuclear-capable missile for the third time since war began
Russia carried out an airstrike on Sunday morning against Ukraine that included its nuclear-capable Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile for the third time as the war began in 2022.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the barrage killed four people and injured about 100, with strikes concentrated around Kyiv and damage to roughly 30 residential buildings. He reported Russia fired about 90 missiles and 600 drones, including 36 ballistic missiles and the Oreshnik.
Zelensky warned that Russia’s use of the weapon should not go without consequences and urged continued work to strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses, notably anti-ballistic capabilities. russia’s Ministry of Defense confirmed launching the Oreshnik but denied targeting civilian infrastructure, saying the missile hit Ukrainian defense-industry and military command facilities, and claiming the strike was retaliation for ukrainian “terrorist” attacks on civilian targets in Russia.
The article also notes the Oreshnik was last used in January 2026, and that Ukrainian intelligence systems were monitoring preparations for the missile ahead of Sunday’s attack. it frames the incident as part of a recent escalation following a brief holiday-related ceasefire and earlier Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia that Zelensky said were “entirely justified.”
Russia hit Ukraine with a nuclear-capable Oreshnik ballistic missile for the third time on Sunday morning during an airstrike barrage that killed four people and injured about 100, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Moscow’s missile and drone attack was concentrated in Kyiv and damaged 30 residential buildings, Zelensky said in an X post. The Ukrainian President reported that Russia fired 90 missiles and 600 drones at Ukraine, including 36 total ballistic missiles and the Oreshnik missile. This is the third time that the Kremlin has used its intermediate-range missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead on Ukraine since the start of the war in 2022.
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“It is important that this does not pass without consequences for Russia. Today, everyone in the world who will not stay silent and chooses to help Ukraine is a defender of life. It is critically important to continue working to secure air defense for Ukraine, especially anti-ballistic capabilities,” Zelensky said.
The Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed that it launched the Oreshnik on Sunday, but denied planing or carrying out any stikes against Ukrainian civilian infrastructure. The ministry said in a Telegram post that the Sunday barrage included attacks against “facilities of the Ukrainian defence industry, military infrastructure, as well as command posts of the General Command of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, and other command posts of the [Armed Forces of Ukraine].”
The Russian Defense Ministry also said that the attack and the use of the Oreshnik was “in response to terrorist attacks launched by Ukraine against civilian objects in Russia.”
Russia last deployed the Oreshnik in January 2026. Zelensky had said his government’s intelligence systems were monitoring the preparation of the missile the day before Sunday’s attack.
UKRAINIAN DRONE STRIKES KILL FOUR IN RUSSIA; ZELENSKY SAYS ATTACK ‘ENTIRELY JUSTIFIED’
The use of the nuclear-capable missile marks the latest escalation in the war, coming after a brief three-day holiday-related ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine on May 8. On May 17, following a separate onslaught of Russian airstrikes against Ukraine, Zelensky authorized what he called an “entirely justified” drone strike attack that killed four people in Russia.
The Ukrainian drone strikes last Sunday killed four people, injured 12 others, and launched debris onto Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow.
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