Russia has used the powerful hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missile in a mass attack on Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
In a post on Telegram on Sunday, he said Russia struck the city of Bila Tserkva in the Kyiv region with the missile, which is capable of carrying nuclear or conventional warheads. He said the target was not immediately clear.
It marks the third time the missile, which Russian President Vladimir Putin has said streaks at 10 times the speed of sound and is capable of destroying underground bunkers “three, four or more floors down”, has been used in Ukraine.
It came as part of an intense overnight assault that shook buildings across the Ukrainian capital, including near government offices, residential buildings and schools.
The combined attack included 600 strike drones and 90 air, sea and ground-launched missiles, according to Ukraine’s Air Force. It said Ukrainian air defences destroyed and jammed 549 drones and 55 missiles, and around 19 missiles failed to reach targets.
Mr Zelensky had earlier warned Russia was planning to use the Oreshnik missile, citing intelligence from the US and Western partners.
At least two people were killed and 56 people were injured in the overall assault, local authorities said, citing preliminary figures. Air raid sirens blared through the night into Sunday as smoke billowed across the city from the strikes.
Damage was recorded in 40 locations across several districts of the city, including residential buildings, Kyiv military administration head Tymur Tkachenko said in a Telegram post.
Kyiv resident Svitlana Onofryichuk, 55, said: “It was a terrible night, and there had never been anything like it in the entire war.
“I am very sorry that I have to say goodbye to Kyiv now, I am not staying there anymore, there is no possibility.
“My job is gone, everything is gone, everything has burned down.”
Yevhen Zosin, 74, a city resident who witnessed the attack, said the moment he heard an explosion he rushed to save his dog.
“Then there was another explosion and she and I were thrown back like a pin by the shock wave. We both survived, she and I. My apartment was blown to pieces,” he said.
In Kyiv’s Shevchenko district, a five-storey residential building was hit, which caused a fire, and one person was killed, Ukraine’s state emergency service reported.
A school building was damaged by an attack while people sheltered inside, Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said. Local authorities reported supermarkets and warehouses across the city were also damaged.
Russia first used the multiple-warhead Oreshnik on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro in November 2024. It was used a second time in January in the western Lviv region.
President Vladimir Putin has said the weapon travels “like a meteorite” and is immune to any missile defence system, adding that several such missiles, even fitted with conventional warheads, could be as devastating as a nuclear strike.