by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent
KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Ukraine’s Pentecost Sunday was overshadowed by mourning after Russia used its hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missile in one of the heaviest assaults on Kyiv and surrounding regions since Russia’s full-scale invasion began, killing at least four people and injuring about 100 others, officials said Sunday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia struck the city of Bila Tserkva in the Kyiv region with the missile as part of a massive overnight barrage involving hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles.
The attacks hit residential buildings, schools, a market, and water infrastructure while fires erupted across several districts of the Ukrainian capital, authorities said.
“They are genuinely deranged,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram as emergency crews searched through rubble and battled fires across Kyiv.
RUSSIA CONFIRMS MISSILE USE
Russia’s Defense Ministry later confirmed it had used the Oreshnik missile, capable of carrying either nuclear or conventional warheads, marking the third reported use of the weapon during the war.
Quoted by Russian news agencies, the ministry said Moscow also launched Iskander, Kinzhal, and Zircon missiles against what it described as Ukrainian military command centers, airfields, and defense-related facilities.
Russia claimed the strikes were retaliation for alleged Ukrainian attacks on civilian sites in Russian-controlled territory. Ukraine denied the accusations.
Zelenskyy said Russia launched some 600 drones and 90 missiles overnight, including 36 ballistic missiles.
“Unfortunately, not all ballistic missiles were intercepted,” he wrote on X. “Kyiv was the primary target of this Russian attack.”
KYIV SUFFERS HEAVY DAMAGE
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said destruction was recorded in every district of the capital.
He said two people were killed in Kyiv and at least 56 wounded, while officials reported two additional deaths in the surrounding Kyiv region.
A school and business center were among the sites struck, with some residents trapped in shelters during the bombardment.
Residents described scenes of devastation.
“It was a terrible night, and there has never been anything like it in the entire war,” Kyiv resident Svitlana Onofryichuk told The Associated Press news agency after the market where she had worked for 22 years burned down.
CULTURAL LANDMARKS ALSO HIT
Ukraine’s National Art Museum also sustained damage in the blasts, according to the Culture Ministry, although officials said the museum’s collection appeared unharmed.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry building was damaged for the first time since World War II.
“Yet another proof we are dealing with hordes of barbarians, not the heirs of civilization,” Sybiha wrote.
Ukraine’s government headquarters also suffered damage, though officials said no casualties were reported there.
The strikes came after Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed retaliation following a deadly drone strike in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region that Moscow blamed on Ukraine. Kyiv said it had targeted a Russian drone command unit there.
WESTERN LEADERS CONDEMN STRIKES
Western leaders strongly condemned the attacks and Russia’s reported use of the Oreshnik missile.
French President Emmanuel Macron called the assault evidence of “the dead end of Russia’s war of aggression,” while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz described the missile’s use as a “reckless escalation.”
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilians.
“These are abhorrent acts of terror meant to kill as many civilians as possible,” she said.
Russia first used the Oreshnik missile against the Ukrainian city of Dnipro in November 2024 and again near Lviv earlier this year. Putin has claimed the weapon travels at 10 times the speed of sound and is impossible to intercept, though some Western analysts dispute those assertions.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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