Russia says it fired its Oreshnik hypersonic missile at Ukraine

The Russian military said it had fired its hypersonic Oreshnik missile at a target in Ukraine in response to what it described as an attempted Ukrainian drone strike on one of President Vladimir Putin's residences, something Kyiv has called a lie.



It is the second time that Russia has used the intermediate-range Oreshnik, a missile which President Vladimir Putin has boasted is impossible to intercept because of its reported velocity of more than 10 times the speed of sound.



The missile is capable of carrying nuclear warheads as well as conventional ones, but there was no suggestion that the one used in the overnight attack had been fitted with anything other than a conventional warhead.



The Russian Defence Ministry said the strike had targeted critical infrastucture in Ukraine. It said Russia had also used attack drones and high-precision long-range land and sea-based weapons.



"The strike's targets were hit. The targets included facilities producing unmanned aerial vehicles used in the terrorist attack (allegedly against the Putin residence), as well as energy infrastructure supporting Ukraine's military-industrial complex," the ministry said in a statement.



Ukraine has called the Russian allegation that its drones tried to attack one of Putin's residences in the Novogorod region at the end of December "an absurd lie" designed to sabotage already troubled peace talks.