Russia Launches New Missile at Kyiv as Ukraine Escalates Drone Strikes

Russia launches “systematic strikes on defense facilities”Signs indicate the stalled war in Ukraine could flare up again. As Ukrainian drone attacks have grown more sophisticated, Kyiv struck Russian-occupied areas with Storm Shadow cruise missiles — and Russia has warned it will hit Ukraine’s defense industry facilities in response.On the 26th (local time), the Kyiv Independent reported that the Ukrainian General Staff said it used Storm Shadow cruise missiles the previous day to strike military infrastructure in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region. The General Staff said in a statement it “successfully destroyed the enemy’s key command, control, and communications hubs” inside temporarily occupied Luhansk territory.The Russian Foreign Ministry responded the same day, saying Russian forces had begun “sustained and systematic attacks” on Ukrainian defense companies in Kyiv, particularly facilities involved in drone design, manufacturing, programming, and operational preparation. The ministry added it would target Ukrainian military headquarters. It urged foreigners working at diplomatic missions and international organizations to leave cities as soon as possible and strongly warned Kyiv residents to avoid military or administrative sites linked to the Volodymyr Zelensky administration.Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha urged allied countries not to yield to Russian threats.Russia has carried out large-scale strikes on Ukraine since the 24th. The Guardian reported that Russia fired a new intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), the Oreshnik, at the Kyiv-area city of Bila Tserkva, killing at least four people and wounding about 100. Russia said the strike was retaliation for a Ukrainian drone attack on Luhansk State Pedagogical University on the 22nd, calling the incident proof of the Kyiv regime’s “Nazi and terrorist” nature and saying Moscow had “run out of patience.”Some analysts, however, have questioned Russia’s military claims, suggesting the Oreshnik may have missed its intended target by as much as 80 km (about 50 miles).