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Russia fired its hypersonic Oreshnik missile overnight at Ukraine, Moscow confirmed on Friday, striking a city barely miles away from the Ukrainian border with Poland, at a time when efforts to forge a peace deal are sputtering.

Some experts say that Moscow carried out this attack to intimidate Ukraine’s European and Western allies.

Here is a closer look at what happened, why the use of the Oreshnik is significant, and why all of this matters.

What happened?

The Russian military carried out the attack amid broader strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure and drone manufacturing sites in and around Kyiv.

It added that the assault was carried out in response to an alleged Ukrainian drone strike on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residence in Novgorod in December 2025.

Kyiv has denied that Ukraine attacked Putin’s residence. United States President Donald Trump has also rejected the claim that such an attack took place.

According to Ukraine, the latest strikes killed four people and injured at least 22 in Kyiv.

Russia also hit critical infrastructure in Lviv with an unidentified ballistic missile travelling at about 13,000km/h (more than 8,000mph), according to Mayor Andriy Sadovyi and Ukraine’s Air Force, which said the exact type of missile was still being determined.

Where in Ukraine was the Oreshnik attack?

According to Russia, the strike in Lyiv was from the Oreshnik.

The western Ukrainian city of Lviv is about 550km (340 miles) away from the capital, Kyiv.

Lyiv is near the border with Poland, roughly 70km (45 miles) away.

What is the Oreshnik?

The Oreshnik is an intermediate-range ballistic missile — the word means hazel tree in Russian. The missile’s multiple warheads fall in streaks of light, apparently resembling the tree.

Hypersonic missiles travel at speeds of at least Mach 5 – five times the speed of sound – and can manoeuvre mid-flight, making them harder to track and intercept.

The Oreshnik is also a nuclear‑capable weapon, meaning it is designed to be able to carry a nuclear warhead, even if it is not always deployed with one.

The Oreshnik is believed to be a medium-range missile, with its use so far suggesting a range of about 1,000 to 1,600km (620 to 990 miles).

Russia has only fired the Oreshnik once before, in November 2024. Back then, Moscow said that it had attacked a Ukrainian military factory.

This attack came days after the US government led by former Democratic President Joe Biden authorised Ukraine to use US-supplied Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to strike targets in Russia.

In 2024, the Pentagon said that the Oreshnik was based on the “RS-26 Rubezh” intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) first developed in 2008.

Putin has ⁠said that the intermediate-range Oreshnik missile is impossible to intercept because of speeds reportedly more than 10 times the speed of sound and that its destructive power is ‌comparable with that of a nuclear weapon, even when fitted with a conventional warhead.

On December 30, 2025, Russia deployed the Oreshnik system in Belarus in a move which could strengthen Moscow’s ability to target Europe in a potential future conflict.

Why was this attack particularly significant?

During the attack in November 2024, the Oreshnik missiles were equipped with dummy warheads as a test attack, according to Ukrainian sources, Reuters news agency reported.

Hence, the dummy warheads did limited damage to Ukraine back then.

If the missiles were equipped with explosives during the recent attack, it would mark the first time that Russia used the Oreshnik missiles to their full non-nuclear capacity while striking Ukraine.

Another reason why this attack is significant is the location of the target.

Back in November 2024, the missiles hit Dnipro, which is in east-central Ukraine and is not close to Ukraine’s borders with other countries.

However, this time, the missiles hit close to Poland, which is a member of NATO.

Kyiv has labelled the use of the weapon close to the European Union and NATO border a “grave threat” to European security.

“Such a strike close to [the] EU and NATO border is a grave threat to the security on the European continent and a test for the transatlantic community. We demand strong responses to Russia’s reckless actions,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on social media.

“Vladimir Putin is using this to communicate with the West, because he could undoubtedly achieve the same operational effects without this missile,” Cyrille Bret, a Russia expert at the Paris-based Montaigne Institute, told the AFP news agency.

A UK government spokeswoman said that, in a call on Friday, the leaders of United Kingdom, France and Germany condemned Russia’s use of the missile as “escalatory and unacceptable”.

Why does this matter?

The latest Russian attack comes as peace talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine continue to stall. In February, the war will enter its fifth year.

The latest attack risks undermining those ceasefire negotiations, at a time when the two sides remain far apart on core issues such as territory.

Observers and analysts have previously told Al Jazeera that the issue of territorial concessions remains a major sticking point.

Trump’s 28-point peace plan for Ukraine, which he unveiled in November 2025, involved Ukraine ceding not only large amounts of land that Russia has occupied during nearly four years of war, but also some territory that Kyiv’s forces currently control. Zelenskyy has stated on numerous occasions that this is unacceptable to Ukraine.

Most analysts are sceptical that any progress has been made on this point and said the latest intensification in fighting will not, by itself, add to the already significant complications in talks.

“I don’t think there is anything to derail at this point,” Marina Miron, an analyst at King’s College London, told Al Jazeera in December 2025.

The peace process “is not going well due to disagreements on key issues between Ukraine and Russia”, she said.

Mikhail Alexseev, a professor of political science at San Diego State University, told Al Jazeera that Moscow’s goal is not to “end or derail” peace talks, but instead it is to “keep them going as a cover and an enabler of continuing Russian brutal invasion in an attempt to wipe Ukraine off the world’s map regardless of human cost”.

After years of public criticism directed at Europe, US President Donald Trump put together a National Security Strategy (NSS) that reflected his twisted perceptions. Still, it is one thing to hear his stage rhetoric and another to see his worldview codified in official doctrine. Its core claim: Europe will be “unrecognisable in 20 years” due to “civilisational erasure” unless the United States, “sentimentally attached” to the continent, steps in to restore its “former greatness”.

Trump is right, Europe has problems. But they are not what he claims.

Decades of underinvestment in people, persistent political incentives to ignore excluded communities and a reluctance to confront how demographic and economic decline interact, go unaddressed. Political leaders largely avoid this conversation. Some deny these problems, others concede them privately while publicly debating symptoms but not addressing the root causes.

A clearer perspective can be found among those who live with these failures. Across Europe, millions in the working class struggle to survive amid shuttered factories, underfunded schools, unaffordable housing and broken public services. Among them, the Roma sharpen the picture. As Europe’s largest and most dispossessed minority, their experience exposes the continent’s choice to treat entire populations as collateral damage. When Trump presses on Europe’s wounds, these communities confirm where it hurts.

What Trump gets right about Europe

The NSS argues that Europe’s “lack of self-confidence” is most visible in its relationship with Russia. Yes, Europe’s paralysis towards Moscow contrasts with its aggression towards weaker groups at home. This reflects the lack of confidence in European values.

Trump is right. We’re weak. If we were strong, we would stand up for European values of democracy and pluralism. We would not demonise our minorities.

But we do. Across the continent, Roma communities face racist policies. In Slovenia, following a bar fight that spiralled into public hysteria, the national legislature passed a law in November to securitise Roma neighbourhoods.

In Portugal, Andre Ventura of the far-right Chega party put up posters saying “G****es have to obey the law” as part of his presidential campaign. In Italy, far-right politician Matteo Salvini built an entire political brand on anti-Roma paranoia. In Greece, the police shoot at Roma youth for minor crimes.

Leaders over-securitise the Roma while overcompensating for their caution towards Russia.

The NSS also highlights Europe’s declining share of global gross domestic product, from 25 percent in 1990 to 14 percent today. Regulations play a part, so does demographic decline, but the deeper problem is Europe’s failure to invest in all its people.

Twelve million Roma, the youngest population in Europe, remain locked out of education, employment and entrepreneurship through structural barriers and discrimination, even though surveys show their overwhelming willingness to contribute to the societies they live in and their high success rates when they run businesses that receive support.

If Roma employment in Romania, Slovakia and Bulgaria – where their unemployment rates are currently 25 percentage points above those of the majority population – matched national averages, the combined GDP gain could be as much as 10 billion euros ($11.6bn). In a continent losing two million workers a year, letting this labour potential go unused is self-sabotage.

Trump is right about Europe’s declining share of GDP. If Europe were serious, it would not believe it can leave Roma people on the scrap heap.

The NSS further warns of “subversion of democratic processes”, and while he is not talking about minorities, it is true that Europe does fall short.  Proportionally, according to our estimates at the Roma Foundation, they should hold over 400 seats.

The European Parliament includes seats for Malta and Luxembourg, states with populations of 570,000 and 680,000, respectively; yet, it does not include any seats for the Roma community.

Trump is right that we have a democratic deficit. But it’s not because of laws against hate speech and constitutional barriers to the far right. The most pressing deficit is that 12 million Roma are not represented.

A continent that wastes its population cannot be competitive, and one that suppresses parts of its electorate cannot claim to be representative. Political exclusion reduces voter turnout and registration rates, leading to systematically underrepresentative institutions, while economic exclusion makes communities easier targets for vote-buying, coercion and political capture.

What Europe really needs

Trump’s proposed solution for Europe’s crisis would not resolve anything. He seems to assume that far-right pseudo-sovereigntists, opposed to immigration and minorities alike, can reverse Europe’s decline.

The evidence suggests otherwise. Countries where xenophobia influences policy have not performed well. In the United Kingdom, where the far right drove a campaign to leave the European Union over fears of migration, experts have calculated that GDP is 6-8 percent lower than it would have been without Brexit. In Hungary, where the government of Viktor Orban has enacted various anti-migrant and discriminatory policies, there is stagnant economic growth, a high budget deficit and frozen EU funds. Exclusion weakens economies and makes democracies vulnerable.

Empowering the ideological heirs of forces that the United States once helped Europe defeat would not aid the continent’s recovery. In fact, this “restoration” to power of extremist right-wing ideology would deepen Europe’s dependence on Washington, then Moscow.

It is also true that Europe cannot survive global realpolitik, leaning on liberal nostalgia, multilateral summits or rhetorical commitments, either.

What Europe needs is inclusive realism: the recognition that investing in all people is not charity but a strategic necessity. China’s rise illustrates this. Decades of investment in health, education and employment have expanded human capital, increased productivity and reshaped global power balances.

Europe cannot afford to waste its own population potential while expecting to remain a relevant player. The real choice is not between liberals and the far right, but between deepening its wounds by sidelining millions or beginning to heal by investing in the people it has long treated as expendable.

Houston Rockets star ‌Kevin Durant swished a 3-pointer with 7:57 ‍left in ‍the third quarter on Friday night to move into seventh place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, but could not prevent his side losing 111-105 to the host Portland Trail Blazers.

Durant’s trey allowed him to pass ⁠legendary Wilt Chamberlain (31,419) during the match on Friday night.

The 3-pointer ‍gave him 17 points on the night and lifted Durant’s career point total to 31,422. Durant finished with 30 ‍points and ⁠has 31,435 career points.

Durant tied Chamberlain’s total with 1:53 left in the second quarter when he got the bounce on a free-throw line turnaround jumper. Houston led 56-55 at halftime.

Durant passed Chamberlain in his 1,156th career ​game. Chamberlain played 1,045 games during ‌a 14-year career with the Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers and Los Angeles Lakers from 1959-73.

Next up for Durant to chase ‌down is sixth-place scorer Dirk Nowitzki (31,560), the former Dallas Mavericks star. Durant ‌is on pace to pass ⁠Nowitzki later this month, barring injury.

LeBron James is the leading scorer in NBA history and has 42,601 career points following a ‌26-point effort in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 105-101 home loss Friday against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387) is ‍the second-leading scorer in NBA history. Karl Malone (36,928), Kobe Bryant (33,643) and Michael Jordan (32,292) round out the top ‌five.

NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder overcome Memphis Grizzlies

Jalen Williams scored 26 points and Kenrich Williams added 21 as the NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder erased a 21-point third-quarter deficit to edge the Memphis Grizzlies 117-116 on Friday.

Kenrich Williams delivered a go-ahead three-pointer with 1:07 remaining, and Alex Caruso blocked a last-gasp attempt by Grizzlies guard Cedric Coward in the final second as the Thunder triumphed, despite the absence of reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and centre Chet Holmgren.

Gilgeous-Alexander was sidelined by a sprained ankle while Holmgren was nursing sore shins, both joining Isaiah Hartenstein and Jaylin Williams on OKC’s injured list.

“Great resilience by the team,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “There were just so many moments of that game where we were trying to break through and something would happen that put the wind in our face again.

“And yet the team just kept competing,” Daigneault added after the Thunder improved their league-best record to 32-7.

Jaren Jackson Jr scored 23 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead Memphis, who had the Thunder on the ropes much of the night despite the continued absence of Ja Morant and the uncertainty prompted by the trade rumours swirling around their star guard.

Morant missed his fourth straight game with a calf injury amid reports the Grizzlies would consider trade offers for him.

Coach Tuomas Iisalo declined to comment on the reports before the contest, saying the team was fully focused on the clash with the reigning champions.

Iisalo said the Grizzlies just did not maintain their level in the second half.

“They’re a very experienced team,” he said. “They’ve been in a lot of pressure situations, and they also know how to turn those to their advantage, and we are learning that.”

Bucks, Golden State and Celtics also win

The Milwaukee Bucks came through in the clutch for a 105-101 victory over the Lakers in Los Angeles.

Kevin Porter Jr scored 22 points, including four free throws in the final 16.2 seconds.

Giannis Antetokounmpo added 21 points and, in the waning seconds, came up with a big block on LeBron James and a crucial steal of a James pass to help seal the win.

James scored 26 points to lead the Lakers, and Luka Doncic added 24 before fouling out with 16.2 seconds remaining, when his foul on Porter’s three-point attempt sent Porter to the line, where he made two of three to put the Bucks up 103-101.

After Antetokounmpo poked the ball away from James, Porter added two more free throws for insurance.

Golden State star Stephen Curry scored 27 points and handed out 10 of the Warriors’ 39 assists in a dominant 137-103 home victory over Sacramento.

In Boston, the Celtics led by as many as 20 points on the way to a 125-117 victory over the Toronto Raptors, who came into the contest on a three-game winning streak that had pulled them within one game of Boston for third place in the East.

The Iranian army says it would safeguard strategic infrastructure and public property as it urged the Iranians to thwart “the enemy’s plots”, after United States President Donald Trump issued a new warning to Iran’s leaders over the escalating antigovernment protests.

In a statement published by semi-official news sites, the military on Saturday accused Israel and “hostile terrorist groups” of seeking to “undermine the country’s public security”, as Tehran stepped up efforts to ‍quell the country’s biggest protests in years over the cost of living, which have left dozens dead.

“The Army, under the command of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, together with other armed forces, in addition to monitoring enemy movements in the region, will resolutely protect and safeguard national interests, the country’s strategic infrastructure, and public property,” the military said.

Iran’s ‍elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – which operates separately from the army – also warned ⁠on Saturday that ​safeguarding ‍the 1979 revolution’s ‍achievements and the ⁠country’s security was a “red line”, ​state ‌TV reported.

Earlier on Saturday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio once again expressed Washington’s support for the people of Iran after Iranian authorities blacked out the internet, as they sought to curb deadly protests.

“The United States supports the brave people of Iran,” Rubio posted on X.

The post came hours after Trump issued a new warning to Iran’s leaders, saying, “You better not start shooting because we’ll start shooting too.”

Trump said it looked like Iran’s leaders were “in big trouble” and repeated an earlier threat of military attacks if peaceful protesters were killed. “It looks to me that the people are taking over certain cities that nobody thought were really possible just a few weeks ago,” he said.

Protests have taken place across Iran since January 3, in a movement prompted by anger over the rising cost of living, with growing calls for the end of the clerical system that has ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution, which removed the pro-Western shah ruler.

The unrest continued overnight on Saturday, with state media blaming “rioters” for setting a municipal building on fire in Karaj, west of Tehran, the Reuters news agency reported.

Press TV broadcast footage of funerals of members of the security forces it said were killed in protests in the cities of Shiraz, Qom and Hamedan, Reuters said. Videos published by Persian-language television channels based outside Iran showed large numbers of people taking part in new protests in the eastern city of Mashhad and Tabriz in the north.

In his first comments on the escalating protests, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday called the demonstrators “vandals” and “saboteurs”.

In a speech broadcast on Press TV, Khamenei said Trump’s hands “are stained with the blood of more than a thousand Iranians”, in apparent reference to Israel’s attacks on Iran in June, which the US supported and joined with strikes of its own.

Khamenei predicted the “arrogant” US leader would be “overthrown” like the imperial dynasty that ruled Iran up to the 1979 revolution.

“Everyone knows the Islamic republic came to power with the blood of hundreds of thousands of honourable people; it will not back down in the face of saboteurs,” he said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, on a visit to Lebanon on Friday, accused the US and Israel of “directly intervening” to try to “transform the peaceful protests into divisive and violent ones”, which a US State Department spokesperson called “delusional”.

‘Different approaches’

Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi, reporting from Tehran, said the protests have been growing in the capital, Tehran, and other cities.

“[The protests] started sporadically, but over the past two-three days, we have been witnessing more and more protests, specifically in the capital,” he said, adding that the demonstrations “flared up into violence in many streets” in Tehran on Thursday.

He said the state is trying to control the situation “with different approaches” such as tightening security measures and introducing a new subsidy scheme for citizens.

The protests are the biggest in Iran since the 2022-2023 protest movement prompted by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for allegedly violating the dress rules for women.

A “nationwide internet blackout” implemented by the Iranian authorities as protesters took to the streets has now been in place for 36 hours, monitor NetBlocks said on Saturday.

“After another night of protests met with repression, metrics show the nationwide internet blackout remains in place at 36 hours,” it said in a post on X.

Rights group Amnesty International said the “blanket internet shutdown” aims to “hide the true extent of the grave human rights violations and crimes under international law they are carrying out to crush” the protests.

Also on Saturday, the US-based son of Iran’s ousted shah urged Iranians to stage more targeted protests, with the aim of taking and then holding city centres.

“Our goal is no longer just to take to the streets. The goal is to prepare to seize and hold city centres,” Reza Pahlavi said in a video message on social media, urging more protests on Saturday and Sunday and adding he was also “preparing to return to my homeland” in a day he believed was “very near”.

Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights, raising a previous toll of 45 issued the day before, said at least 51 protesters, including nine children, have been killed by security forces, and hundreds more injured.

In a joint statement on Friday, the foreign ministers of Australia, Canada and the European Union issued a strong condemnation and called on Iran to “immediately end the use of excessive and lethal force by its security forces”.

Myanmar’s military government is holding an election despite much of the country being ravaged by the effects of war with rebel forces. Al Jazeera’s Tony Cheng has been to the abandoned town of Hpapun, where there are no residents left to vote.