Russia launched one of its largest aerial assaults of the war overnight, firing an Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile alongside waves of drones and hypersonic weapons in a bombardment that killed at least two people and forced NATO fighter jets into the skies over Poland.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia struck the city of Bila Tserkva in the Kyiv region using an Oreshnik missile, a terrifying weapon capable of carrying either nuclear or conventional warheads.
It is believed to be only the third time the missile has been used during the war. Russia first deployed the multiple-warhead system against the city of Dnipro in November 2024, and reportedly used it again in the western Lviv region earlier this year.
Serhiy Sternenko, a prominent Ukrainian activist, claimed the Kremlin was using the missile as psychological warfare.
“They launched a nuclear missile without a nuclear warhead to scare us and the world,” he wrote on Telegram.
The Oreshnik launch formed part of a huge overnight barrage involving 600 strike drones and 90 air, sea and ground-launched missiles, according to Ukraine’s Air Force.
Ukrainian air defences said they destroyed or jammed 549 drones and intercepted 55 missiles, while a further 19 missiles failed to reach their targets.
Putin spends Billions on attacking civilians, children and families. https://t.co/FhA3c6syqj
— Shaun Pinner (@ShaunPinnerUA) May 24, 2026
Alongside the Oreshnik, Russia also launched Iskander ballistic missiles, Kinzhal hypersonic missiles and Zircon cruise missiles, according to Russian state media.
The assault caused widespread destruction across Kyiv, where officials recorded damage at 40 separate locations. Residential buildings, a market and a school were among the sites struck.
Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said emergency crews were working through the rubble across several districts of the capital.
Svitlana Onofryichuk, 55, who had worked at the damaged market for more than two decades, described scenes of devastation after the attack.
“It was a terrible night, and there had never been anything like it in the entire war,” she said.
“I am very sorry that I have to say goodbye to Kyiv now. I am not staying there anymore. There is no possibility. My job is gone, everything is gone, everything has burned down.”
The scale of the attack also triggered alarm beyond Ukraine’s borders, with NATO scrambling fighter jets in neighbouring Poland amid fears over Russian missile activity close to alliance territory.
The overnight assault marked another escalation in Russia’s long-range bombardment campaign, which has increasingly targeted cities far from the front line using advanced missile systems designed to overwhelm Ukrainian air defences.
The Polish Operational Command of the Armed Forces wrote on X: “Due to the activity of the Russian Federation’s long-range aviation, which is carrying out strikes using air attack weapons on the territory of Ukraine, military aviation is operating in our airspace. In accordance with the applicable procedures, the Operational Command of the Armed Forces has activated the necessary forces and means at its disposal.
“Ground-based air defense systems and radar reconnaissance have reached readiness status. These actions are preventive in nature and are aimed at securing and protecting the airspace, particularly in areas adjacent to threatened regions.”
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