Russia says it struck Ukraine with Oreshnik, Iskander and Kinzhal missiles

Russia’s use of four advanced missile systems in one overnight assault was meant to send a message well beyond the immediate damage. By naming Oreshnik, Iskander, Kinzhal and Zircon, Moscow framed the strike as a deliberate show of range, precision and escalation, aimed at Ukrainian military command sites, air bases and other defense-linked facilities.

Russian state outlets said the barrage came in retaliation for Ukrainian strikes on civilian targets in Russia. The message was as much political as military: Moscow presented the attack as proof that it could answer hit for hit, while also highlighting the sophistication of the weapons it chose to disclose. That matters because each system carries a different kind of signal. Iskander and Kinzhal are already familiar tools in Russia’s campaign, while Oreshnik, the intermediate-range ballistic missile, has been mentioned far more rarely. Multiple reports said this was only the third known use of Oreshnik in the four-year war.

Ukraine said Russia launched 90 missiles and 600 drones in the overnight attack and that air defenses intercepted 549 drones and 55 missiles. Even so, 16 missiles and 51 drones hit 54 locations across the country, underscoring the strain on Ukraine’s air-defense network. Kyiv officials said at least two people were killed and at least 77 injured; later updates said the death toll rose to four or more and the wounded to more than 80.

Ukraine’s air force said one Oreshnik missile was fired from Kapustin Yar and targeted Bila Tserkva in Kyiv Oblast. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia had aimed at civilian infrastructure, including water-supply facilities, in a move he said was designed to damage them before summer demand rises. The timing and scale suggested that Moscow was not only trying to destroy targets, but also to pressure Ukraine into spreading its defenses thinner across more cities and more categories of threat.

The strike followed days of rising tension after Russia accused Ukraine of a drone attack on a student dormitory in Starobilsk, in Russian-controlled Luhansk, on May 22, 2026. Russian officials initially said six people were killed, with the toll later reported as 18, and Vladimir Putin ordered his military to prepare retaliation options. Ukraine denied targeting civilians and said its strike hit a Russian drone unit headquarters instead.

Ursula von der Leyen said the European Union would send more support to reinforce Ukraine’s air defenses. The broader pattern is clear: both sides have intensified long-range strikes, but Russia’s decision to advertise multiple advanced missiles in one raid suggested a campaign designed to intimidate, overwhelm and broadcast power as much as to hit fixed military targets.