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Russia Fires Ballistic Nuclear Capable Oreshnik Missile in Massive Attack Against Ukraine
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Russia launched an “Oreshnik” intermediate-range ballistic missile at Bila Tserkva in the Kyiv region during a wider barrage of 90 missiles and 600 drones aimed primarily at Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated on May 24.
In a statement published on his official Telegram channel, Zelenskyy said that at least 83 people had been confirmed injured since midnight and that fatalities had also been recorded, without specifying the number of dead.
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"Launched his 'Oreshnik' against Bila Tserkva. They really are unhinged," Zelenskyy declared, in remarks directed at the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin. He added that Putin "can't even pronounce the word 'hurrah' clearly anymore – slurs and mumbles – yet he is still vanquishing residential buildings with his missiles."
Zelenskyy described the assault as a "heavy attack," emphasizing that not all of the ballistic missiles had been intercepted. "It was a heavy attack – 90 missiles of various types, many of them ballistic missiles – 36 in total. There were 600 drones," he wrote. "Unfortunately, not all of the ballistic missiles were intercepted – the largest number of hits was in Kyiv."
According to the Ukrainian president, Russian forces also struck a water supply facility with three missiles, burned down a market, damaged dozens of residential buildings, and hit several ordinary schools during the overnight assault.
The "Oreshnik" is a Russian intermediate-range ballistic missile system that Moscow first deployed in November 2024, when it was used against a defense industrial site in the city of Dnipro.
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The system is reportedly derived from the earlier RS-26 Rubezh program and is designed to deliver multiple independently targetable warheads on a hypersonic ballistic trajectory. Putin has publicly claimed that no existing air defense system can intercept the missile.
Its use against Bila Tserkva, a city of roughly 200,000 people located some 80 kilometers south of Kyiv, marks one of the rare reported combat employments of the system since its battlefield debut.
Russia's May 24 overnight strike marked another in a sustained pattern of mass aerial assaults on Ukrainian cities. Russian forces launched 690 aerial targets, including 90 missiles and 600 drones, with Kyiv as the primary target, with damage reported at more than 40 sites.
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