Videos show bright objects, flashes amid claims of Russian hypersonic missile use

Ukrainian media and Telegram channels have circulated videos showing bright objects descending almost vertically, followed by powerful flashes. They claimed the footage captured the use of Russia’s intermediate-range hypersonic Oreshnik system, although Moscow has not officially confirmed the launch.

The latest footage resembles videos that circulated in January, when Russia used the Oreshnik system in a strike on a Ukrainian aviation plant in Lviv that was repairing and servicing warplanes and producing long-range drones.

The reported strike came after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the Defense Ministry to “submit proposals” for a response to a Ukrainian drone attack on a school dormitory in the Lugansk People’s Republic.

The dormitory, part of the Starobelsk college of Lugansk Pedagogical University, was hit by Ukrainian drones while students were inside. Local authorities said search-and-rescue operations at the site had been completed, with 21 people confirmed killed.

Governor Leonid Pasechnik declared May 24 and 25 days of mourning, calling the attack “pure evil” and saying those responsible must face “deserved and inevitable punishment.”