Following Kiev’s recent attacks on Russian targets, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expects Moscow to launch a retaliatory strike using the much-feared new Oreshnik medium-range ballistic missile.
“Our intelligence services have received reports based on data received, including from American and European partners, that Russia is preparing a strike with the Oreshnik missile,” Zelensky said on social media on Saturday.
The capital, Kiev, is therefore also at risk.
Russia has already used the ballistic missile, which possesses particularly high destructive power, twice in its war of aggression against Ukraine – once in the city of Dnipro in the south-east of the country without warheads, and most recently in western Ukraine in January.
Zelensky warned of a possible combined Russian attack using various types of weapons. “It is important to react responsibly to air raid sirens from this evening onwards,” he urged his compatriots. “Russian madness truly knows no bounds, so protect your lives – use air-raid shelters.”
Zelensky calls on the international community to respond
At the same time, Zelensky called on the international community to mount what he called a “pre-emptive response.” He did not specify exactly what he meant by this.
However, he explained that the response must not come only after the event. “Pressure must be exerted on Moscow to prevent it from escalating the war,” Zelensky asserted. Ukraine would prepare its air defences as far as possible and respond.
“This war must be ended – we need peace, not missiles that satisfy the sick ambitions of a single individual,” said Zelensky, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been waging a full-scale war of aggression against the country for more than four years.
Threat of retaliation for deadly strike on residential building
Putin had ordered his defence ministry to prepare a response to the Ukrainian attack on a student hall of residence in the town of Starobilsk in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region.
According to Russian sources, at least 18 students from a teacher training college were killed. The Ukrainian military stated that the target had been a Russian military unit specializing in drone attacks against Ukraine.
Additional bodies had been recovered from the rubble of the building in the town of Starobilsk, Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said. A total of 48 people were reported injured.
Local authorities said three people were still missing and that rescue teams were continuing to search through the debris. Authorities have repeatedly revised upward the death toll following Friday’s attack.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday accused the Ukrainian military of carrying out a “terrorist attack,” claiming there was no military target at that location.
Putin launched Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and subsequently annexed the eastern Luhansk region, which Kiev is seeking to retake from Russian occupation.
UN Secretary General António Guterres criticized the attack, saying the agency opposes attacks on civilians wherever they occur.
The Oreshnik missile, which the Russians have also stationed in Belarus , a Russian ally, can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads. Its extremely high speed of up to 12,000 kilometres per hour and its range of up to 5,000 kilometres make it a potential threat to the entire European continent.