Ukraine is preparing a strike against it using the Oresnik hypersonic missile, the Ukrainian president said today, citing Ukrainian, US and European intelligence services, while Russian officials announced that the number of people killed in a drone strike on a student dormitory in its Russian-controlled region of eastern Ukraine had risen to 18.
“We see indications of preparations for a combined strike on Ukrainian territory, including Kiev, using various types of weaponry. The specific medium-range weapons may be used in such a strike,” Zelensky wrote in X referring to Russia’s advanced Oresnik hypersonic missile.
Russia has already attacked Ukraine twice with the Oresnik, a missile that Russian President Vladimir Putin has boasted is impossible to intercept because of its speed, which is said to be ten times the speed of sound.
Zelensky’s warning was reinforced by a related announcement from the US embassy in Kyiv, which stated that within the next 24 hours a large-scale Russian air attack on Ukraine is likely.
More specifically, in its announcement, the embassy said: “The US Embassy in Kyiv has received information regarding a potentially significant air strike that could occur at any time within the next 24 hours. The embassy, as always, recommends that American citizens be prepared to immediately evacuate to a safe place in the event that an air alert is declared.”
At 18 the dead from the blow to the student dormitory in Luhansk
Meanwhile, Russian officials said the death toll from a drone strike on a student dormitory in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine had risen to 18, with many of the victims young women.
President Putin yesterday ordered the armed forces to prepare options for retaliation against Ukraine after Moscow accused Kiev of deliberately targeting a teacher training college in the city of Starobilsk with drones.
The Ukrainian armed forces denied responsibility for the attack, saying they struck an elite drone command unit in the area, 65 kilometers from the front line, and that they were complying with international humanitarian law. Putin said there were no military installations in the area and called the strike a “terrorist act”.
Russia’s state-run RIA news agency reported that the death toll had risen to 18, citing the Emergencies Ministry. Three people remain trapped under the debris.
Leonid Pasesnik, head of the Russian-appointed administration in the region, released a preliminary list of the 21 victims. They are mostly women and the youngest had just turned 18. He also released a list of 41 injured, the youngest of whom is 15 years old.
What was discussed at the UN General Assembly?
In an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, convened yesterday, Friday, by Russia, Moscow accused Kiev of war crimes in relation to this episode, while Ukraine argued that this is an unfounded claim that has not been confirmed by an independent source.
Some countries have called for access to the ground while UN officials have criticized all attacks on civilians, recalling a Russian missile attack this week on a UN warehouse in Ukraine that killed two workers and destroyed $1 million in aid.
