Russia has confirmed that it used the Oreshnik ballistic missile as part of a massive overnight strike on Ukraine on Thursday night.
Four people were killed and 25 others injured in Kyiv, where loud booms could be heard for several hours, setting the sky alight with explosions.
It was only the second time that Moscow has used the Oreshnik, which was first deployed to hit the central city of Dnipro in November 2024.
Russia's defence ministry stated that the strike was a response to a Ukrainian drone attack on Vladimir Putin's residence in late December, which Kyiv denies having conducted.
While the ministry did not specify the Oreshnik's target, videos began circulating on social media showing numerous explosions on the outskirts of the western city of Lviv shortly before midnight (22:00 GMT).
Ukrainian authorities confirmed that a ballistic missile had indeed struck infrastructure in Lviv, located about 60km (40 miles) from the Polish border.
The Oreshnik missile is classified as an intermediate-range, hypersonic ballistic missile, capable of reaching distances up to 5,500km (3,417 miles). It is designed to fragment its warhead into several, independently targeted projectiles upon descent, causing repeated explosions.
Such a strike close to EU and NATO borders poses a grave security threat to the European continent and serves as a test for the transatlantic community, remarked Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha.
The strike was described as a result of Putin's hallucinations, referring to the alleged drone attack on the president's home.
While the EU questioned the legitimacy of the alleged drone attack, others, including Donald Trump, expressed skepticism about its occurrence.
As Lviv and other western regions faced attack, more than a dozen missiles and hundreds of drones were launched against Kyiv.
A paramedic was among those who died while responding to a damaged apartment in Kyiv, as Mayor Vitali Klitschko labeled it a double-tap strike—where subsequent strikes target rescuers and victims.
Both apartment buildings in Kyiv and a high-rise in the central district suffered hits, with multiple neighborhoods losing power amidst exceedingly low winter temperatures expected to hit -15°C (5°F).
This attack on residential infrastructure has become a consistent aspect of the ongoing conflict, with Ukraine responding to Russia's persistent strikes on energy facilities that frequently leave millions without essential services.
During the same time frame, half a million residents in the Russian Belgorod region lost power, reportedly due to Ukrainian shelling targeting its infrastructure.
Moreover, Ukrainian strikes affected water and heating systems in a Russian power plant located in Oryol, intensifying the back-and-forth hostilities between the warring nations.
