E.U. accuses Russia of nuclear brinkmanship
Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, called the use of the Oreshnik missile a “political scare-tactic and reckless nuclear-brinkmanship.” This is the third time the Oreshnik has been used in the conflict: first in Dnipro in November 2024, and then again earlier this year in the Lviv region. The missile is a nuclear-capable, intermediate-range hypersonic missile that can hit targets nearly 3,500 miles away.
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed responsibility for the strikes, and confirmed the use of the Oreshnik missile, calling the move retaliation for Ukraine’s attacks on “civilian facilities on Russian territory.”
Russia accused Ukraine of a deadly drone attack on Friday that hit a student dormitory in Starobilsk, a Russian-controlled city in the Luhansk region of Ukraine, killing 21 people and injuring 42 others.
Ukraine has denied the attack, saying it had struck an elite drone command unit in the area. At a United Nations Security Council emergency meeting on the strike, Ukrainian Ambassador Andrii Melnyk said that Ukraine “exclusively targeted the Russian war machine” in Friday’s attacks.
