KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Saturday that Russia is preparing a strike against Ukraine using a hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missile, based on intelligence from Ukraine, the United States, and Europe. The warning follows a directive by Russian President Vladimir Putin to the military to prepare retaliatory options for a drone strike on a student dormitory in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine, an attack Ukraine's military denies.
In a post on X, Zelenskyy stated, "We are seeing signs of preparation for a combined strike on Ukrainian territory, including Kyiv, involving various types of weaponry. The specified intermediate-range weapons could be used in such a strike." The post did not reference the drone attack.
Russia has previously used the Oreshnik missile against Ukraine twice. In November 2024, Moscow fired an Oreshnik at what it claimed was a military factory, but Ukrainian sources reported the missile carried dummy warheads and caused limited damage. A second attack in January 2026 struck the Lviv region in western Ukraine. Putin has boasted that the missile, with a velocity exceeding ten times the speed of sound, is impossible to intercept.
Zelenskyy urged international partners to recognize the broader implications: "We are drawing the attention of our partners in the United States and Europe to the fact that the use of such weapons and the prolongation of this war also sets a global precedent for other potential aggressors."
