Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia is preparing a strike against Ukraine using a hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missile.
Citing intelligence from Ukraine, the US and Europe, Zelensky’s warning came a day after Vladimir Putin ordered his military to prepare options for retaliation against Ukraine for a drone strike on a student dorm in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine, which Ukraine's denied responsibility for.
Zelensky said in an X post that did not mention the drone attack: "We are seeing signs of preparation for a combined strike on Ukrainian territory, including Kyiv, involving various types of weaponry. The specified intermediate-range weapons could be used in such a strike.”
Russia has already attacked Ukraine twice with the Oreshnik, a missile which Vladimir Putin has boasted is impossible to intercept because of its reported velocity of more than 10 times the speed of sound.
"We are drawing the attention of our partners in the United States and in Europe to the fact that the use of such weapons and the prolongation of this war also sets a global precedent for other potential aggressors," Zelensky said.
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Russia preparing strike on Ukraine using hypersonic 'Oreshnik' missile, Zelensky says
Russia is preparing a strike against Ukraine using a hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missile, Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday, citing intelligence from Ukraine, the US and Europe.
The warning came a day after Vladimir Putin ordered his military to prepare options for retaliation against Ukraine for a drone strike on a student dorm in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine's military denied responsibility for that attack.
"We are seeing signs of preparation for a combined strike on Ukrainian territory, including Kyiv, involving various types of weaponry. The specified intermediate-range weapons could be used in such a strike," Zelensky said in an X post that did not mention the drone attack.
Russia has already attacked Ukraine twice with the 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.
Moscow first fired an Oreshnik against what it said was a military factory in Ukraine in November 2024. On that occasion Ukrainian sources said the missile was carrying dummy warheads, not explosives, and caused limited damage.
The second attack was in January 2026, and the missile struck Lviv region in the west of the country.
"We are drawing the attention of our partners in the United States and in Europe to the fact that the use of such weapons and the prolongation of this war also sets a global precedent for other potential aggressors," Zelensky said.
The leaders of Britain, France and Germany in January described Russia's use of an Oreshnik ballistic missile in western Ukraine as "escalatory and unacceptable".
Zelenskiy said that Kyiv counts on a response from the world and on a "response that is not post factum, but preventive."
Pressure must be put on Moscow so that it does not expand the war, he added.
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Zelensky: 'Ukraine’s place in the EU must be full and equal'
Ukraine is actively working to to become a member of the EU, as it “fights for its life”, Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
“There can be no complete European project without Ukraine, and Ukraine’s place in the European Union must also be complete – full and equal,” the Ukrainian president wrote on social media.
“It is important to open the clusters. It is important to make meaningful progress in the negotiations. It is important to work at one hundred percent for security and for our people.”
“Ukraine is fighting for its life, for its independence, and for the Europe that has lived in peace the longest, that protects people, life and culture, and that, thanks to this protection, plays a truly global role.”
Earlier, President Zelensky said Germany’s proposal to grant Ukraine “associate” member of the EU was “unfair” because it would leave Kyiv without a voice inside the box.
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Speaking after a Nato foreign ministers’ meeting in Sweden, Yvette Cooper highlighted the escalating threat posed by Moscow’s unpredictability.
“We discussed in the Nato foreign ministers’ meeting how Russia’s weakening on the battlefield against Ukraine is also making them more reckless and dangerous,” she said.
Ms Cooper detailed how Russia, despite being under immense pressure from Ukraine’s military response and economic challenges, is becoming increasingly unpredictable.
This manifests in “escalating attacks on Ukrainian civilians, increasing hybrid threats across the continent, and reports of drone incursions”. She added that the threat from Russia is expanding across “air, land, sea, space, cyber and information warfare”.
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Death toll in student dorm strike rises to 16
The death toll from a drone strike on a student dorm in the Luhansk region has risen to 16, with most of the victims young women, Russian officials said on Saturday.
Russia's state-run news agency RIA reported that five people remained trapped under the rubble.
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Another nine people were injured in the attack, local authorities said.
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Ukraine has denied Russian claims that a Ukrainian drone strike in Luhansk Oblast killed six people and injured dozens of children.
Russia said the strike hit a dormitory linked to a college in Starobilsk, and Russian president Vladimir Putin condemned the attack.
Moscow also requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council.
Ukraine’s General Staff called the accusations misleading information and said its drones targeted Russian military infrastructure in the area overnight on 22 May, including ammunition depots, air defence systems, command posts, and a headquarters linked to Russia’s elite drone unit, the Rubikon Center for Unmanned Technologies.
Ukraine said the Rubikon unit regularly carries out attacks on Ukrainian civilians and insisted it only strikes military targets in line with international law.
Proposal of associate EU membership 'unfair', says Zelensky
Germany’s proposal to grant Ukraine”associate” member of the EU was “unfair” because it would leave Kyiv without a voice inside the box, Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
Friedrich Merz has suggested allowing Ukraine to participate in EU meetings without a vote as an interim step to full membership of the bloc, which he said could help facilitate a deal to end the four-year-old war triggered by Russia's invasion.
In a letter to EU leaders, Zelensky said that the removal of Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban – a staunch opponent of Ukraine's EU membership – following elections last month created the opportunity for substantive progress on accession talks.
“It would be unfair for Ukraine to be present in the European Union, but remain voiceless.
“The time is right to move forward with Ukraine's membership in a full and meaningful way."
