Russia unleashed one of the most punishing aerial barrages of the entire war overnight, sending approximately 600 drones and around 90 missiles at Kyiv and the surrounding Bila Tserkva district. At least two people were killed in the capital, Ukrainian officials confirmed.

Among the weapons deployed was the Oreshnik, a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of exceeding Mach 10. This marks only the third confirmed combat use of the system since it was first fired in November 2024, and its reappearance signals that Moscow is willing to keep reaching into its most advanced arsenal.

What happened and why the Oreshnik matters

The Oreshnik is a variant of the RS-26 Rubezh, an IRBM originally designed to…