Less than two days after President Vladimir Putin vowed revenge for a Ukrainian strike that hit a secondary-school dormitory in the Russian-controlled Luhansk oblast, Russia unleashed a massive, multi-weapon barrage on Kiev early Sunday, one that apparently included the rare use of Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missiles.
While authorities are still sorting through the wreckage, they say at least one person was killed in the blitz that started a 1 am and continued into the early morning light, when a nine-story residential building was hit. Others were trapped in an air raid shelter, its door having been buried in debris. At least 20 people were injured. Many videos purporting to capture the attack and its aftermath assault are circulating on social media:
AMK Mapping, a pro-Ukraine account that chronicles the war on X, described the Russian attack on Kiev as "enormous," saying it included hundreds of Geran-2 drones, at least 20 Iskander-M ballistic missiles, 12 Kh-101 cruise missiles, 6 Kalibr cruise missiles, 4 Zircon hypersonic cruise missiles and 2 Oreshnik intermediate range ballistic missiles (IRBMs). Putin has hailed the Oreshnik as un-interceptable, as it reportedly travels at more than 10 times the speed of sound.
This video is said to show an industrial facility -- some are describing it as an arms factory -- near Kiev:
On Friday, Putin accused Ukraine's "neo-Nazi regime" of intentionally targeting civilians in a "terrorist" overnight drone attack that struck a school for 14- to 18-year-olds in the Luhansk oblast. Donetsk and Luhansk together comprise the Donbas region that Russia has been battling to wrest from Ukraine since February 2022. The death toll has mounted, with Russia now saying 18 people were killed when the dormitory was struck. Ukraine claims it was targeting a drone command unit.
Hours ahead of Russia's huge attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky used social media to warn that an Oreshnik assault was in the works, citing intelligence received from American and European partners. He also said the use of such formidable weapons shouldn't be tolerated by other countries:
"The use of such weapons and the prolongation of this war...sets a global precedent for other potential aggressors. If Russia is allowed to destroy lives on such a scale, then no agreement will restrain other similar hatred-based regimes from aggression and strikes. We count on a response from the world – and on a response that is not post factum, but preventive. Pressure must be put on Moscow so that it does not expand the war."
On Friday, Russia's UN ambassador said the dormitory horror meant that Ukraine was incapable of being negotiated with. "This clearly confirms the treachery and non-negotiability of Kiev, which, with the encouragement of its Western sponsors, is not only not committed to a peaceful settlement, but also openly sabotages it," Vassily Nebenzia told a meeting of the UN Security Council. "This deliberate attack on a civilian facility where children study and live, carried out at night when the dormitory was full, was clearly carried out with the aim of maximizing the number of victims."
In 2024, President Trump assured voters that he'd bring an end to the war in Ukraine before he even took office. With hopes brimming that his Iran folly will soon be behind him, maybe -- despite Nebenzia's proclamation -- Trump can now push for a negotiated end to this one too.