Russia fired a nuclear-capable “Oreshnik” ballistic missile at a target in western Ukraine overnight, the second acknowledged use of the weapon, as both sides reported a fresh wave of long-range strikes on 9 January.

Russia’s defence ministry said the launch formed part of a wider attack using drones and “high-precision long-range” land- and sea-based weapons. It described the operation as retaliation for what it said was an attempted Ukrainian drone strike on one of President Vladimir Putin’s residences in the Novgorod region on 29 December. Kyiv rejected the allegation. US President Donald Trump said he did not believe Russia’s account.

In Ukraine’s Lviv region, Governor Maksym Kozytskyi said a critical infrastructure facility had been targeted. Mayor Andrii Sadovyi said the strike involved a ballistic missile, but said it was for Ukraine’s military to determine whether the weapon deployed was an Oreshnik. Ukrainian media reported nationwide air-raid alerts late on Thursday evening amid warnings of a ballistic threat and possible launches from Russia’s Kapustin Yar range.

Reporting in both countries has focused on the Stryi area, south of Lviv, where Ukraine has significant gas infrastructure including the Bilche–Volytsko–Uherske underground gas storage facility. Naftogaz has described Bilche–Volytsko–Uherske as Europe’s largest underground storage site, with capacity of about 17 billion cubic metres, and other industry sources describe it as the country’s largest.

There were no immediate official claims of catastrophic damage to the underground storage itself. By early morning, Ukrainian officials had not reported sustained fires in the area, which would typically be expected if a large volume of stored gas had ignited. That does not exclude damage to above-ground equipment that supports day-to-day operation.

Moscow says the Oreshnik is an intermediate-range hypersonic weapon that travels at more than ten times the speed of sound and is difficult to intercept. The Russian military has said the missile can carry nuclear warheads, although there was no suggestion from either side that the weapon used overnight carried a nuclear payload.

Ukraine’s air force confirmed that Russia fired an Oreshnik from the Kapustin Yar test range near the Caspian Sea. Sadovyi said the missile travelled at about 13,000 kilometres per hour, roughly Mach 10, while stressing that technical assessment was continuing.

The configuration used in the strike remains unclear. Russian war correspondents circulated video clips that appeared to show several flashes hitting the ground over a short interval; Reuters said it could not independently verify the footage. Ukrainian intelligence, cited by the Associated Press, has said the missile has six warheads, each carrying six submunitions.

Russian officials have presented the Oreshnik as a weapon whose conventional payload can deliver effects “comparable” to a nuclear strike, but Western officials have previously questioned whether it alters the battlefield balance. Reuters reported that a US official said in late 2024 that it was not viewed as a game-changer.

The Oreshnik was first used in November 2024, when Russia said it struck a military target in Ukraine. Ukrainian sources said that earlier launch carried dummy warheads and caused limited damage. Since then, Russia has highlighted the system’s strategic role, including by releasing official video in late December of what it said was the deployment of Oreshnik systems to Belarus.

If the target was linked to gas storage, the intent may have been to disrupt a critical part of Ukraine’s energy system. Ukraine’s underground storage network supports winter supply and, in some years, provides spare capacity for firms operating in the European market.

The reported Oreshnik launch came amid a broader overnight assault. In Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said apartment buildings were hit, killing at least four people and injuring more than 20. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Qatari embassy was damaged.

Russia said its intended targets were struck. Ukraine has not released detailed assessments for the western site, and independent verification will likely depend on satellite imagery and operational data from the gas system. What can be established so far is that Russia has again paired large drone salvos with the selective use of a higher-profile missile system, while Ukraine continues to deny the incident cited by Moscow as the reason for employing the Oreshnik. Fighting elsewhere continued through the morning.