Tensions are rising as Russia launches large-scale missile and drone attacks on major cities, including the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.

On the 24th (local time), Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media that “Russia fired 90 missiles, including 36 ballistic missiles, and 600 drones overnight.” The Ukrainian military said it shot down 55 of the missiles and 549 of the drones, but some that slipped through air defenses struck residential areas, causing numerous casualties.

According to the AP and the Kyiv Independent, local authorities reported at least four dead and 80 injured. Air-raid sirens wailed throughout the night, and smoke from the strikes spread across the city. Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said on Telegram that damage had been confirmed at about 40 locations across the city.

Svitlana Onofriychuk, 55, a Kyiv resident, told the AP, “We have not had a night like this at any time during the war,” adding, “The market where I had worked for 22 years was destroyed, and everything burned.” She said, “I don’t think I can stay in Kyiv any longer.”

The Russian military said it attacked Ukraine with the Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile. Iskander and Kinzhal missiles were also used in the strikes. President Zelensky likewise said, “Russia hit Bila Tserkva in Kyiv Oblast with the Oreshnik.”

Oreshnik, which means ‘hazel tree,’ is said to be capable of carrying both nuclear and conventional warheads and striking targets up to 5,000 km away. Russia first used this missile in attacks on Ukraine in November 2024. At the time, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, “If Oreshnik is used in large numbers together with precision long-range weapons, the results could rival those of strategic nuclear weapons.”

Clashes between the two sides have intensified since mid-month, after they exchanged air raids on each other’s capitals. The latest strikes came shortly after Russia labeled Ukraine’s attack on Luhansk a ‘terrorist act.’ On the 23rd, after receiving a report that a drone strike on a student dormitory in occupied Starobilsk, Luhansk Oblast (Russian: Starobelsk) had caused casualties, President Putin ordered the Ministry of National Defense to draw up retaliatory measures. Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations said 21 students were killed and 42 injured in the attack.