Russia has used its latest missile against Ukraine for a second time in the nearly 4-year-old war, a forceful signal to Kyiv and its Western allies as peace talks are in a crucial stage.

Russia accelerated its attacks on civilians after President Donald Trump began his efforts to end the war in Ukraine, the first comprehensive assessment of 2025 casualties undertaken by European governments has found.

Russia attacked Ukraine overnight with 242 drones and 36 missiles, the Ukrainian Air Force said Friday morning.

Russia says it used its new Oreshnik hypersonic missile and other weapons in a massive strike on Ukraine​. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy says a drone hit the Qatar embassy.

Russia's defence ministry said on Monday that the target it hit last week in a strike with a hypersonic Oreshnik missile was a Ukrainian aircraft repair plant, which was disabled. Ukraine and its European backers condemned the Russian missile strike on Friday,

Russia carried out a strike near Ukraine’s western border with an intermediate-range ballistic missile known as Oreshnik, sending a threatening signal to Kyiv’s allies amid a widespread air attack that targeted energy infrastructure and damaged apartment buildings.

Moscow said the overnight strike was in response to an alleged Ukrainian drone strike on a residence used by President Vladimir Putin, which the U.S. and others said did not happen.

Ukrainian authorities reported multiple deaths and infrastructure damage after Russia said it deployed a new missile system in an overnight strike.

Ukraine's commander in chief said December was the first month that its drones "neutralized" roughly as many Russians as were called up.

For only the second time, Russia used a new ballistic missile that it says flies at 10 times the speed of sound and is unstoppable by air defenses.

Read the latest news on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Stay updated with on-the-ground reporting, political developments on both sides, and the economic impact on the region and the world.

At least four people have been killed in Russia's most intense overnight aerial bombardment of the year so far, according to Ukrainian officials and media. Ukraine’s capital Kyiv came under a short but intense attack from Russian missiles, head of Kyiv’s military administration Tymur Tkachenko said.