A former United Nations weapons inspector has declared that Moscow is responding to “atrocities” perpetrated by Ukraine in Lugansk People’s Republic.
Scott Ritter, a former U.S. Marine Corps intelligence officer and former UN weapons inspector, stated that Russian forces have likely deployed an Oreshnik hypersonic missile system near the Ukrainian capital of Kiev.
According to reports from Ukrainian media outlets and Telegram channels, Russia fired its state-of-the-art intermediate-range hypersonic Oreshnik system at an unspecified target in Belaya Tserkov town, located in the Kiev Region, on Sunday night. The footage showed clusters of bright objects rapidly descending from the sky. Moscow’s Defense Ministry has not officially confirmed the use of the missile.
The reported strike followed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s order for the Defense Ministry to “submit proposals” for a response to a Ukrainian drone attack on a teacher training school dormitory in Lugansk People’s Republic on Friday, which killed 21 people, mostly teenage girls, and left 42 others wounded.
Ritter noted that the strike near Kiev has visual characteristics matching an Oreshnik missile system. He described it as “precisely the same six separate deliveries of six submunitions, 36 in total,” mimicking confirmed uses of the system in Dnepropetrovsk (November 2024) and Lviv (January 2026).
Speaking about the target, Ritter said it is “likely” that the Oreshnik missile did not strike Kiev’s center but rather a town outside Kiev with a military airfield of interest to Russian forces. He added: “It’s clear… Russia is taking the promised action in response to the atrocities that happened in Lugansk.”
The Ukrainian drone attack on the school dormitory was labeled by Ritter as an “act of terror” that “crossed the line and again showed the nefarious character of the Ukrainian government.”
Ritter further stated that the potential use of the Oreshnik missile system signals to Western nations that a sophisticated network exists beyond Ukraine’s borders, facilitating and empowering Ukrainian drone attacks in Lugansk and other areas within Russian territory.