Europe backs Kyiv’s call for UN action after Oreshnik strike

The United Nations Security Council is set to meet next week to address Russia’s deployment of the “Oreshnik” hypersonic missile, following Kyiv’s request for urgent action.

According to a report by French media, the Council will hold an emergency session on Monday, January 12, after Russia carried out extensive airstrikes and announced that it had used the Oreshnik missile in western Ukraine.

Russia’s Ministry of Defence claimed that the overnight strikes of 8–9 January were conducted “in response to a terrorist attack by the Kyiv regime,” asserting that the targets included drone production sites and energy infrastructure. Ukraine rejected these statements, calling them “Kremlin information manipulation.”

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that Kyiv is launching urgent consultations not only within the UN Security Council but also through the Ukraine–NATO, EU, Council of Europe and OSCE frameworks. Several countries, including France, have backed Ukraine’s appeal to convene the Security Council meeting.

Moscow asserted that its use of the Oreshnik hypersonic missile was retaliation for what it described as an attempted Ukrainian drone strike on one of President Vladimir Putin’s residences—an accusation Kyiv has categorically denied.

This is only the second confirmed use of the intermediate-range Oreshnik missile, which President Putin has repeatedly promoted as being impossible to intercept due to its reported ability to travel at more than ten times the speed of sound.

Russia first employed the Oreshnik in combat on November 21, 2024, striking a defence-industrial facility in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro amid the ongoing war.

By Tamilla Hasanova