On the night of May 24, during a massive combined attack on Ukraine, Russia once again used the medium-range ballistic missile RS-26 "Rubezh," known as "Oreshnik." According to confirmation from Yuriy Ihnat, spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, the launch was carried out from the Kapustin Yar range. This is already the third documented use of this type of weapon against Ukraine — following Dnipro in November 2024 and Lviv region in January 2026.
What hit and where
The State Emergency Service recorded a fire in a garage cooperative in Bila Tserkva: three garages were burning. The Kyiv region prosecutor's office confirmed damage to civilian objects — a garage cooperative and buildings of an enterprise in the Bila Tserkva district. Video from Suspilne shows deformed metal structures characteristic of a typical garage complex — with no signs of military infrastructure.
"Oreshnik" worth tens of millions of dollars destroyed 3 garages. The Russians are simply shocked by such results.
Kyiv regional council deputy Volodymyr Horkovenko
The Russian Ministry of Defense, as is customary, reported a "strike on military command facilities, airbases and defense industry enterprises."
What the target likely actually was
Analysts from Defence Express and OSINT-channel "CyberBoroshno" point out: the target was most likely an airfield or other military facility in the Bila Tserkva area. However, the missile hit a different part of the city — and the question of accuracy remains open. Defence Express considers the version of an "80 km miss" (i.e., a strike on Bila Tserkva instead of Kyiv) unlikely: the distance and trajectory do not match such a scenario.
Pressure weapon or combat tool
According to expert assessments, one "Oreshnik" missile costs approximately 20–25 million dollars. The warhead is divided into six separately targetable warheads, each carrying six submunitions — a design calculated to destroy fortified or dispersed targets. The strike on Bila Tserkva was delivered with a non-nuclear configuration.
Even in Russian Z-communities, the attack was criticized as a "waste of money for a good picture." Defence Express concludes: the use of "Oreshnik" so far resembles more of a demonstration of capabilities and psychological pressure than effective combat use.
- First "Oreshnik" strike — Dnipro, November 21, 2024
- Second — Lviv region, night of January 9, 2026
- Third — Bila Tserkva, May 24; documented result: three destroyed garages
If Russia truly planned to hit an airfield or other facility rather than a civilian garage complex — subsequent launches will show whether this is a systemic accuracy problem or a one-time malfunction. The answer to this question is more important than any rhetoric surrounding the weapon itself.
