The Oresnik supersonic missile was used overnight by Russian forces as part of a 'massive hit', as reported, against energy installations, despite an agreement not to target such infrastructure, as well as attacking drone construction factories.
The Russian defence ministry referred to the hit as a response to a Ukrainian attempt at hitting one of Vladimir Putin's residences in the Novgorod district, late December
Kyiv retorted that the Russian allegation is a 'blatant lie', adding that Moscow's attempt to justify its attack on energy installations, was simply 'insane'.
The governor of Ukraine's western Lviv province, bordering Poland, earlier said that the Russian attack hit an infrastructure, which unconfirmed reports named as an extensive subterrenean natural gas installation.
Reuters was not in a position to verify this story.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian air force claimed that the Russians used an Oresnik ballistic missle in the aforementioned strike, travelling at nearly 13 thousand kilometres per hour.
Moscow had first launched an Oresnik in November 2024 against a military factory. The missile has a middle range but cannot be stopped as at travels over 10 times the speed of sound with its force of destruction equalling a conventional nuclear weapon.
In response to the Russian attacks, Ukrainians attacked the Russian border district of Belgorod, leaving more than half a million people without heating, water and electricity. The district lies next to the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, repeatedly bombed over the past four years.
Russia launched almost 300 drones and 36 millies overnight, with Kyiv saying it had destroyed more than three quarters of what Moscow's forces fired against its cities.
SOURCE-Athens News Agency