The launch of the "Oreshnik" missile by Russia against Ukraine is a warning to Europe and the US, and is an escalation, a spokesman for the European Commission said today at a press conference in response to questions, quoted by BTA.
According to him, Russian President Vladimir Putin does not want peace, and the Russian response to diplomacy is continued destruction. We will continue our support for Ukraine, including with steps such as those taken by the Coalition of the Willing, the spokesman added.
Last week, countries from the Coalition of the Willing expressed their intention to send an international military peacekeeping contingent to Ukraine after peace is achieved. The Russian side responded by saying that if this intention is carried out, foreign military personnel in Ukraine will be considered a legitimate target.
The Russian strike last night with an "Oreshnik" missile near the EU and NATO border is a "serious threat" to European security and a "test" for the West, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Szybiga said today, quoted by Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
He called on Ukraine's partners to increase pressure on Moscow. Szybiga said that Kiev had informed the United States, European partners and other countries through diplomatic channels about the details of the strike.
"(Russian President Vladimir) Putin used a medium-range ballistic missile near the EU and NATO border in response to his own hallucinations. This is indeed a serious threat. And it requires an international response," Sibiga said.
Russia said it had struck "strategic" targets in Ukraine, using the Oreshnik hypersonic missile for the second time, AFP reported. Russia used the Oreshnik medium-range hypersonic missile for its attack on western Ukraine, TASS reported, citing the Russian Defense Ministry, which noted that it was using the weapon for the second time to strike Ukraine.
The Russian armed forces carried out a "massive strike with long-range precision weapons, including the Oreshnik medium-range mobile ground-based missile system, as well as drones, the ministry said, adding that the attack was carried out in response to the "terrorist attack" of Kiev against the residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin on December 29, 2025.
For the first time, Moscow attacked the Ukrainian industrial city of Dnieper (Dnipro in Ukrainian) with the “Oreshnik“ in November 2024.