World leaders have condemned Russia after it attacked Kyiv with an Oreshnik hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile in an intense assault on the capital overnight.
The combined attack included 600 strike drones and 90 air, sea, and ground-launched missiles, according to Ukraine’s air force.
At least four people have been killed in the attacks, while dozens more were injured, authorities said.
Several world leaders, including French president Emmanuel Macron, Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, and vice-president of the European Commission Kaja Kallas, have criticised Russia.
Germany’s chancellor Friedrich Merz labelled Russia’s bombardment of the Kyiv region and its use of the Oreshnik missile system as a “reckless escalation”.
Foreign secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Moscow’s escalating assault on Ukrainian civilians betrays its weakness.”
It comes after Vladimir Putin ordered his military to prepare options for retaliation for a drone strike on a student dorm in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine, which Kyiv denied responsibility for.
Russia has already attacked Ukraine twice with the Oreshnik, targeting Dnipro in November 2024 and the western Lviv region in January.
