The United Kingdom and the United States have issued a stark condemnation of Russia's latest military action in Ukraine, branding the use of a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile a "dangerous and inexplicable escalation" of the conflict. The rebuke came during an emergency session of the UN Security Council, convened to address the strike which has heightened fears of a further intensification of the war.
Diplomatic Fury at the United Nations
Acting British ambassador to the UN, James Kariuki, labelled the attack "reckless" and warned it threatened both regional and international security. "President Putin claims to want peace, and yet his actions tell a different story," Mr Kariuki stated. He emphasised that such violence would not deter Ukraine's allies, pledging continued military and financial support for Kyiv and increased pressure on Moscow to engage in meaningful negotiations.
Echoing this sentiment, US deputy ambassador Tammy Bruce told the council that Russia's actions constituted another dangerous escalation, "even as the United States is urgently working with Kyiv, other partners and Moscow to end the war through a negotiated settlement." She also condemned Russia's continuing attacks on Ukraine's civilian energy infrastructure.
The Oreshnik Missile: A Hypersonic Threat
The weapon in question is the Oreshnik intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile, a system President Vladimir Putin has previously boasted is impossible to intercept due to its velocity of more than ten times the speed of sound. This marks only the second time the missile has been used against Ukraine; its first deployment in November 2024 was with dummy warheads, in what analysts saw as a live test.
According to the Russian defence ministry, the missile struck the Lviv State Aviation Repair Plant in western Ukraine on Monday, 12 January 2026, disabling a facility it claimed repaired Western-supplied F-16 and MiG-29 aircraft and produced attack drones. Ukrainian authorities confirmed a strike in the Lviv region, near the Polish border, but did not specify if the plant was hit.
Military experts note the Oreshnik's novel and concerning capability to carry multiple warheads that can strike different targets simultaneously, a feature typically associated with longer-range intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Context and Conflicting Claims
Russia justified the strike as a direct response to what it described as an attempted Ukrainian drone attack on one of President Putin's residences in the Novgorod region on 2 January 2026—a claim vehemently denied by Kyiv and disputed by Western nations. Moscow stated it had presented alleged evidence from a drone fragment to a US military attaché and warned it would review its position in ongoing peace talks.
Ukraine and its European allies interpreted the hypersonic missile attack differently, viewing it as an attempt to intimidate the West. The strike occurred amid discussions about European nations potentially offering troops for a post-war reassurance force in Ukraine.
The international community now watches closely as this significant escalation, involving one of Russia's most advanced weapons, further complicates the path to diplomacy and risks drawing the conflict into a more perilous phase.
