Russia Fires Oreshnik IRBM at Bila Tserkva in Largest Attack on Kyiv Since 2022 — 600 Drones + 90 Missiles

On the night of May 23–24, 2026, Russia launched its largest single aerial attack on Ukraine since the war's opening weeks: 600 drones and 90 missiles, beginning the evening of May 23. Ukraine's air defenses intercepted 549 drones and 55 missiles; 51 drones and 16 missiles struck 54 locations across Ukraine. Critically, Russia fired an RS-26 Rubizh 'Oreshnik' intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) — the same weapon capable of carrying nuclear warheads and traveling at hypersonic speed — at Bila Tserkva, Kyiv Oblast, a city of approximately 200,000 people located 64 km south of Kyiv. This was the first confirmed Oreshnik strike against Kyiv Oblast. The Oreshnik is effectively impossible to intercept with currently deployed air defense systems. Ukrainian President Zelensky had warned hours before the attack — citing U.S. and European intelligence — that such a strike was imminent. Russia framed the massive assault as retaliation for Ukraine's May 22 strike on the Starobilsk facility in occupied Luhansk. The attack marked a dramatic escalation: using an IRBM-class weapon against a civilian population center of 200,000 people crossed a threshold not seen since Russia's largest 2022 attacks. Day 1,550 of Russia's full-scale invasion.