The Ukrainian Air Force confirmed that Russian forces fired an RS-26 Rubezh medium-range ballistic missile, known as the Oreshnik, at the outskirts of Bila Tserkva in the Kyiv region overnight on May 24. The missile was launched from Kapustin Yar in Russia’s Astrakhan region and was equipped with multiple independently targetable warheads.
Colonel Yuriy Ihnat, head of the communications department of the Ukrainian Air Force Command, confirmed the use of the strategic system. Surveillance footage from Bila Tserkva shows the warheads separating in the upper atmosphere and triggering a rapid sequence of ground detonations.
The attack was the third operational use of the Oreshnik since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Russia previously used the weapon against Dnipro in November 2024 and against the Lviv region in January 2026. The strike on Bila Tserkva was the kinetic culmination of an unusually dense, multi-dimensional saturation campaign targeting the capital’s logistical and administrative infrastructure.
According to the Air Force Command, Ukrainian radar detected a total of 690 simultaneous aerial attack weapons in Ukrainian airspace, including 90 missiles of various classes and 600 attack drones. In addition to the Oreshnik, the Kremlin launched two Kh-47M2 Kinzhal missiles from MiG-31K aircraft based in Lipetsk, as well as three 3M22 Zircon hypersonic missiles from mobile launchers in occupied Crimea and Kursk.
Investigation teams from the Kyiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office and specialized military forensic units were dispatched to the impact site early Sunday morning to recover material fragments and assess structural damage. The use of the Oreshnik fulfilled urgent weekend warnings from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who had warned of imminent launch preparations at Kapustin Yar.
Source: www.kyivpost.com
