War in Ukraine: why does the Russian firing of a nuclear-capable missile worry kyiv and its allies?

Russia confirmed on Sunday May 24 that it had used a nuclear-capable Orechnik missile during bombings in Ukraine.

kyiv, capital of Ukraine, and its region were the target of Russian attacks on the night of Saturday May 23 to Sunday May 24. Massive, coordinated missile and drone strikes from Russia. One of them was carried out by an Orechnik intermediate-range missile, a nuclear-capable missile. Deaths are to be deplored. The provisional report at the end of the morning showed at least four dead and dozens injured, as reported by RFI. A few days before these deadly attacks, another deadly attack was carried out from Ukraine and targeted a high school in a region occupied by Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin then promised a military response.

Yesterday evening, very powerful explosions were heard around one o’clock in the morning in the capital of Ukraine, kyiv. As of Sunday morning, fires were still underway. Nighttime missile and drone attacks caused the deaths of at least four people, including a young child. 60 people were injured.

Un missile à capacité nucléaire lancé

The Ukrainian army had warned on a Telegram thread that the capital was the subject of “a massive attack by enemy missiles”. According to her, nearly 600 drones and 90 missiles were used. “Three Russian missiles hit a water supply infrastructure, a burned market, dozens of residential buildings damaged, several ordinary schools, and Vladimir Putin launched his ‘Orechnik’ against Bila Tserkva. Following this strike, Volodymyr Zelensky spoke: “They are really crazy,” he said in a message on Telegram.

Russia acknowledged the strike with this nuclear-capable missile. “In response to terrorist attacks by Ukraine against civilian infrastructure on the territory of Russia, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation carried out a massive strike using Orechnik ballistic missiles, Iskander aeroballistic missiles, Kinjal hypersonic aeroballistic missiles and cruise missiles Tsirkon, as well as cruise missiles and drones, declared the Ministry of Defense in a press release, reported by RFI.

The reactions of kyiv’s allies

The reaction of denunciation from certain allies of kyiv was not long in coming in the face of the use of the Orechnik ballistic missile with nuclear range. Emmanuel Macron denounced on X “a form of headlong flight” on the part of Moscow and “the impasse of its war of aggression”.

This intermediate-range missile, capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, was fired in a new salvo of strikes “against civilian objectives in Ukraine”, also accused the French president.

Furthermore, the head of the Italian government Giorgia Meloni strongly condemned on Sunday the Russian attack which took place during the night.

“I strongly condemn the violent Russian attack which once again hit civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, with a gradual escalation in the importance of the weapons used,” she declared in an official press release echoed by LCI.