Ukraine’s war with Russia has entered a dangerous new phase. Following a controversial strike in occupied Starobilsk, Russia unleashed one of its largest missile and drone attacks on Kyiv, including the use of an Oreshnik missile. Ukraine responded with devastating strikes deep inside Russia, targeting key military and energy infrastructure. With tensions escalating, nuclear threats resurfacing, and both sides raising the stakes, the conflict may be approaching one of its most critical moments yet.
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00:00The war in Ukraine has seen a dramatic escalation over the past week.
00:04Ukraine has significantly upped the temper of its operations both on the front lines
00:09and in the air, and appears to have hit a serious nerve inside Russia.
00:14A massive Russian strike on several Ukrainian cities using a record number of drones and
00:19missiles was answered immediately by a major Ukrainian strike on Moscow and multiple other
00:24regions. But the Ukrainians have also been intensifying their strikes on Ukrainian territories
00:30occupied by Russia, and it's one of those strikes in the town of Starobilsk in occupied Luhansk
00:36that's really got under Russian skin. In response, Russia launched one of its most severe strikes on
00:42Kiev in May, and has threatened to hit even harder in the near future. But continuing the one-upmanship,
00:48Ukraine responded with a devastating strike of its own, and now Ukraine and the world are bracing
00:53themselves for what comes next. Thanks to Ukraine's devastating response, the stakes in this war
00:59have arguably never been higher. Here's the full story of what Ukraine did and what might happen
01:04next. The strike on Starobilsk on the night of May 22nd to 23rd was one of the many that have
01:09been
01:10tormenting the occupied territories over recent weeks. Ukraine seems to have established a major
01:15kill zone along the crucial M14 highway. It's the primary logistics route in the occupied territory,
01:21running east-west and connecting the Russian mainland with Crimea. But what used to be
01:26considered a road of life has turned into a road of death. Footage shows dozens of military vehicles,
01:33oil tankers and other vehicles burning or burnt out alongside the road. The road, known as the R-280
01:39in Russia, became so dangerous that Vladimir Saldo, the Russian occupation head of Kerson Oblast,
01:45was forced to issue a decree restricting freight vehicle movement on a sizable section of the road.
01:50But the strikes in the occupied territories certainly didn't end there. On May 20th,
01:55Robert Brovdy, the commander of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces, reported that his units had hit a
02:00Russian drone pilot training camp in the occupied town of Snizna. He claimed that at least 65 cadets
02:06and an instructor had been killed as a result. The following day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr
02:11Zelensky reported that another set of strikes had hit a Russian security service headquarters and an air
02:15defense system in the Kherson region in occupied Ukraine, killing and wounding almost 100 Russians.
02:21According to Ukraine's general staff, between May 25th and 26th, Ukrainian forces also struck a Russian
02:27command post in Ocherotina in Donetsk Oblast and a regional command post in Verkniya Kronitsya
02:32in Zaporizhia Oblast. Ground control stations used by Russian forces near Nestoryanka in Zaporizhia
02:39and Novorodivka in Donetsk Oblast were also reportedly hit. But the Ukrainians were just
02:44getting started. They also struck a Russian drone warehouse and logistics depot near Novorodivka,
02:50another logistics warehouse in the city of Donetsk, and a railway fuel tanker near Debaltseva,
02:55all in Donetsk Oblast. Ukrainian forces also claimed a successful strike on a Russian 1L125
03:01Niobe-SV radar station near Yarsk in Luhansk Oblast on May 24th. Although unreported in Western media,
03:09Russian media also claims an unprecedented attack on the town of Enhodar, home of the
03:14Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, on May 27th. The plant's communications director, Yevgenia Yashina,
03:20told Russian media that at least 50 explosions had been reported, leaving communications disrupted
03:26and part of the city without power. So clearly the occupied territories have been getting hammered,
03:32and the Russians have been feeling the pain. But it's the Ukrainian strike on the town of
03:37Starobilsk in Luhansk on May 22nd that has really got the Russians' goat. That's probably an
03:42understatement of the mood in Russia following the strike. In fact, in many respects, this strike
03:47could turn out to be their butcher. As you probably recall, Russia had occupied the town of Butcher,
03:52located on the outskirts of Kyiv during its initial march on Kyiv in March 2022.
03:58After they withdrew, Ukrainian forces found hundreds of dead civilians in the streets,
04:03basements and mass graves. Victims were often found with their hands bound behind their backs
04:07and gunshot wounds to the head. The incident triggered global outrage and accelerated international
04:13support for Ukraine. But perhaps more importantly, it galvanized national unity and support for the
04:18Ukrainian government and forces to resist the Russian invasion, arguably more than any other
04:23single event in the early stages of the war. Despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary,
04:28Russia denied the claims. President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and even
04:33Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko labeled it as a fake attack. But now in Starobilsk, in many
04:39ways, the roles are reversed. Ukraine claims that it hit a headquarters of the elite Russian drone unit
04:45Rubicon in the vicinity of the town. The general staff said it was just one of multiple strikes
04:49carried out on military targets that evening. But that's not what the Russians reported. In fact,
04:54far from it. The Russians claim that this was a cold-blooded strike on a teacher's training
04:59college that left 21 dead and dozens injured. The majority of those, they said, were students,
05:05teenage girls aged 14 to 18. They say that Ukrainian drones first hit a dormitory where the girls were
05:11sleeping, then followed up with several waves of drones, 16 in total, targeting the survivors and
05:18those trying to rescue them. Footage of the site indeed shows multiple destroyed buildings at the
05:22Starobilsk College of Luhansk Pedagogical University, including what appears to be a five-story
05:27dormitory building in ruins. Following a heated and frankly deeply unsavory UN Security Council session
05:34called by Russia to discuss the attack, European nations like Denmark and Latvia flatly rejected the
05:40Russian account. In response, the Russians organized a trip for foreign journalists to the site.
05:45According to the Foreign Ministry, the BBC, CNN and all Japanese media declined the invitation for
05:51various reasons. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova had subsequently accused CNN of
05:57filming the preparation of the strike, based on a report by the channel's correspondent Nick Patton-Walsh.
06:02However, 50 journalists from 19 countries reportedly did make the trip. From the resultant footage,
06:08there's no discernible evidence of any military facilities on the site. At this point, it's very
06:14difficult to say what actually happened. Perhaps we'll never know. What's indisputable, however,
06:19is that the Russian response has been unprecedented, at least in terms of the war in Ukraine.
06:24Russian media has been laying it on thick, with blanket coverage highly reminiscent of the aftermath
06:28in Butcher. It's fair to say that the nation is shocked and outraged, not just at the strike,
06:33but because they claim Ukraine mocked the tragedy afterward. The impact of Ukraine's accelerating
06:38strikes on Russian infrastructure, the unprecedented attack on Moscow the previous week, and growing
06:43financial worries had already worsened the mood in the country considerably, particularly in the
06:47capital. But the Starobilsk attack seems to have crossed some kind of national psychological red
06:53line. In short, they want blood, and the pressure has ratcheted up several levels on Putin to respond
06:59forcefully. Putin called the attack a terrorist strike. He insisted there had been no military
07:04facilities, intelligence service facilities, or related services in the vicinity. Therefore,
07:09there is absolutely no basis for claiming that the munitions struck the building as a result of our
07:13air defense or electronic warfare systems. More ominously, the Russian foreign ministry said the
07:18May 22nd strike had pushed the war past a breaking point and warned that Russia's patience was now
07:24exhausted. Putin reportedly asked his military to present proposals for a retaliatory strike,
07:29and it soon arrived. The following evening, Russia launched one of the heaviest strikes on
07:34Kiev and other areas to date. Ukraine's Air Force said altogether 90 missiles and 600 drones had been
07:40detected. It said that early data showed 55 ballistic and cruise missiles and 549 drones were shot down or
07:47intercepted, while 19 missiles may not have reached their targets. However, they acknowledged that there
07:52were 16 direct missile and 51 drone hits in 54 locations. Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuri Ignat
08:00appeared to contradict those interception rates. We really had a serious attack. 90 missiles,
08:05600 drones, almost all of them in the capital. So this is really a problem, he said. From the
08:10circulating footage, there's very little evidence of air defense activity over the city during the
08:15attack. However, it's of course possible that air defenses were more successful in other regions
08:19attacked. Shikasi, Kharkiv, Odessa, Poltava, Sumy, and Zitomir. The Russians also appear to have
08:26included at least one strike with the much-discussed supposed Russian superweapon, the Oreshnik.
08:31Zelensky confirmed the evidence from circulating geolocated footage that an Oreshnik hit the town of
08:36Bilasekva in the Kiev region. Various clips of the strike emerged with one intriguingly geolocated
08:42to the city of Donetsk instead. Based on that footage, a second strike seemed to have taken place in
08:47the north of Donetsk, somewhere along the line that passes from the city through Donetsk and
08:51eastern Kharkiv oblasts into Russia's Belgorod region. Other reports claim that a second Oreshnik
08:56was fired but failed, crashing somewhere inside Russia or the occupied territories.
09:02This is the kind of insight you're not going to find on any old military channel on YouTube.
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09:11Now, it's unclear what exactly the Russians hit in Bilasekva, and whether it was the intended target.
09:17There is an airfield near the impact site and an industrial zone that may house military facilities,
09:22but on the face of it, they appear to have struck civilian agricultural and industrial facilities
09:26and only done superficial damage. Nevertheless, the use of the Oreshnik drew sharp condemnation
09:31from European leaders. French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the strike as a signal of the
09:37dead end and impasse of Russia's war of aggression. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz
09:42labelled the attack a reckless escalation and affirmed that Germany remains firmly at Ukraine's side.
09:49And Kaya Kalas, the EU's foreign policy chief, described its use as a
09:53political scare tactic and reckless nuclear brinkmanship.
09:57The Oreshnik is primarily intended as a nuclear weapon, but its payload of six missiles,
10:02each releasing six submunitions, can only be used as a purely kinetic weapon,
10:07with no warhead attached at all. Putin has previously claimed that the special materials
10:11used in its construction burn almost as hot as the surface of the sun, and that the missiles could
10:16penetrate deep into fortified structures as a result. The strike on Bilasekva was non-nuclear.
10:22No mushroom cloud or radiation was recorded, but the nuclear threat that Kaya Kalas referenced is
10:27clear. The Russian message is that the next Oreshnik strike could be carrying nuclear warheads,
10:32and at this point there's no evidence that Ukraine, or indeed anyone else, has air defenses that can
10:37stop it. But the Oreshnik was far from the only type of missile used during the attack.
10:42According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the strikes were carried out using Oreshnik,
10:46Iskander, Kinzhal and Sierkon missiles, as well as air, sea and ground-based cruise missiles and
10:51attack drones. They claim to have struck command posts of Ukraine's Ground Forces' main command,
10:56the main intelligence directorate of the Defense Ministry, and other Ukrainian command posts,
11:00as well as unspecified military infrastructure. As they always do, they also claimed no civilian
11:05objects were targeted. But the evidence strongly suggests otherwise. Residential buildings, shopping
11:11centers, and emergency services buildings were reportedly struck. Zelensky said four people had
11:17been killed and 100 injured in total. A water supply facility was also attacked, and the Chernobyl
11:22Museum in Kyiv had been effectively destroyed. Ukraine's Interior Minister Ihor Klemenko called the attack
11:29on the museum, a deliberate attack on history, memory, and truth. Earlier, Kyiv's mayor Vitaly
11:34Klitschko reported that a person was killed after a nine-story residential building in the central
11:39Shevchenko district was hit and a fire broke out on the top floors. In the same district, a strike near
11:45an air-raid shelter at a school blocked its entrance with debris, trapping several people inside. Every
11:51district of Kyiv reportedly suffered damage. Tellingly, the only military infrastructure confirmed to have been
11:57hit by Ukrainian authorities was the Ukrainian ground forces command building. However, according
12:02to a well-known advisor to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Sergei Flash Beskresnov, the facility has not been
12:08used since the beginning of the war. He also confirmed that the Lukianovka plant, which had already been damaged
12:13by previous shelling, had also been hit. So it's unclear ultimately what the Russians accomplished for all of that,
12:18besides making Kyiv look like the center of the apocalypse as the sun rose. Did the Ukrainians take the attack
12:24lying down?
12:24Of course not. Retribution was swift, devastating and continues unabated.
12:30In the early hours of May 27th, Ukraine struck a military aircraft repair plant in Taganrog,
12:36in the Rostov region. Governor Yuri Slyazar claimed air defenses had shot down a missile over the city,
12:42with debris injuring two women, one seriously. But footage analyzed by Russian outlet Astra suggested the
12:48strike hit near the 325th Aviation Repair Plant, a facility that services Russian military aircraft,
12:54including an AN-12 and IL-76 transport planes, Su-24 bombers, Su-25 attack jets and Mi-8 and
13:01Mi-24
13:02helicopters. The facility has been sanctioned by the EU, the US and Ukraine over its role in supporting
13:08Russia's war effort. Further north, explosions from a Ukrainian missile attack rocketed the area around
13:13the Baltimore military airfield in Voronezh. The base is home to the Su-34 fighter bombers Russia
13:18uses heavily in attacks on Ukraine. Voronezh Governor Alexander Gusev said,
13:23Two high-speed targets were destroyed over the city, adding that debris damaged civilian structures
13:28but caused no casualties. Ukrainian monitoring channel Xcelenova Plus claimed the targets were
13:34British-French Storm Shadow cruise missiles aimed at the air base. Video circulating online showed
13:39thick black smoke rising above the area after the strike, suggesting direct hits rather than debris
13:45damage. On the same night, Ukrainian forces struck the embattled city of Tuapsa in Krasnodar Krai
13:50again. It's at least the fifth time that this strategically important city has been hit
13:55during the spring of 2026 alone. The city houses an important oil refinery and marine terminal for
14:01loading the refinery's products onto ships for export. A previous strike on May 1st turned the city
14:06temporarily into an unlivable hellhole, complete with air so thick with smoke that breathing became
14:12hazardous, toxic oil-filled black rain, and a major oil slick that still hasn't been entirely cleaned up
14:18almost a month later. The latest attack seems to have targeted the marine oil terminal and refinery,
14:24sparking a large fire. The Krasnodar Krai operational HQ predictably described the damage as having been caused by
14:31falling drone debris. But more often than not, as we saw in Taganrog and Voronezh, that's a euphemism
14:36for a direct hit. Lastly, occupied Crimea also came under attack, as it very often does.
14:42Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozaev reported that Ukrainian drones and storm shadow missiles
14:47targeted the city overnight, with one missile striking the southern directorate building of Russia's
14:51central bank. The hit ignited a roof fire and shattered windows and balconies in nearby residential
14:56buildings with no casualties reported, local officials said. Russia's defense ministry later
15:02claimed its air defenses intercepted and destroyed 140 Ukrainian drones over seven Russian regions and
15:08Crimea overnight, but made no mention of any missile strikes. Now Ukraine and the world is bracing itself
15:14for what comes next, even as the country undoubtedly plots its next strike. On Monday, before Ukraine's
15:21retaliatory strikes, the Russian foreign ministry announced that its armed forces would begin conducting what
15:25it called systematic strikes on Ukraine's military industrial facilities in Kyiv, as well as what
15:31it dubbed decision-making centers. It urged foreign nationals and diplomatic staff to evacuate the city
15:37and residents to avoid military and administrative areas. Even the US hasn't been able to avoid the
15:43fallout. Shortly after the warning, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reportedly called Secretary
15:48of State Marco Rubio and told him in no uncertain terms that Washington should evacuate diplomats from the
15:54U.S. Embassy in Kyiv. But his warning seems to have been largely ignored. On Wednesday, Kaya Kalas said
16:00that EU diplomats would not be leaving, and according to her, only one nation had begun vacating its embassy,
16:06the U.S., which promptly denied the claim.
16:09The U.S. Embassy is open. There are no changes to our operations and reports otherwise are false,
16:13it posted on X. It's the latest in a long string of embarrassing utterances from Kalas, which has prompted
16:19growing criticism from the media and analysts. Nonetheless, European diplomats seem to be staying put
16:24despite the stern Russian warning that seems to suggest that Kyiv's administrative district might be about
16:29to get pummeled. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrei Sabia dismissed Moscow's warnings as
16:34shameless blackmail, saying the threats would not intimidate Western diplomats operating in the Ukrainian capital.
16:40Indeed, EU ambassador to Ukraine, Katerina Modanova, rejected the evacuation calls, insisting Western missions would remain in the city.
16:47But underneath the bravado, there are signs that Ukraine is worried about just how severe the next
16:52set of Russian strikes might be. On Wednesday, prominent Ukrainian analyst Lieutenant General
16:57Ihor Romanenko claimed that Russia was amassing ballistic missiles and could launch a massive
17:02strike in about a week. The former deputy chief of the general staff and founder of the Safe Skies
17:07over Ukraine said that Russia is increasing the proportion of ballistic missiles in its attacks
17:12to take advantage of Ukraine's shortage of anti-ballistic missiles for air defense.
17:16Also, on Wednesday, Zelenskyy penned an open letter to President Donald Trump, which was
17:21reportedly delivered to Congress by the Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S., Ola Stefanosina. In it,
17:26he laid bare Ukraine's precarious shortage of anti-ballistic missile defenses and requested
17:30faster U.S. deliveries of Patriot interceptor missiles.
17:33When it comes to protection against ballistic missiles, we rely almost exclusively on the
17:38United States. The current pace of deliveries under the Pearl program no longer corresponds to
17:43the reality of the threat we face. I ask for your help in protecting Ukraine's airspace from Russian
17:47missiles," he wrote. It's unclear whether Trump has responded or how he might respond. But in the
17:53meantime, Russian bloggers have noted that this week's strikes focused on Russian air force related
17:57targets, particularly what they say are fields and facilities from which Russia launches missiles at
18:01Ukraine. They speculate that this may be an attempt to prevent or delay a massive strike that, as
18:06Romanenko claimed, is very much in the works. But there's a question no one wants to contemplate, and for
18:12good reason. Will Putin authorize the use of a tactical nuke? Hardliners in Russia have been stung
18:18by recent setbacks on the front, Ukraine's increasing ability to reach deep into Russia with impunity,
18:23and now the Starobilsk attack. They are demanding extremely tough action, but it's debatable whether Russia
18:29actually has the conventional power to deliver a truly crushing blow to Kyiv or to deal with
18:34potential consequences. Voices like Professor Sergei Karaganov, Honorary Chairman of the Procedium of
18:40the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, have long been pushing for Putin to take the gloves off
18:45in dealing with Ukraine, but they've largely been shut down by Putin. Now Karaganov's message appears to
18:51be gaining resonance. He claims that if Russia's vast nuclear stockpile isn't sufficient in and of itself to
18:56deter aggression, Russia will have to use some of them to restore deterrence. And he's not just
19:01pushing for strikes on Ukraine. He also wants to take aim at the European nations that support it
19:06most as well. Symbolic strikes to start with, then perhaps less symbolic ones, he told Russian outlet
19:12Vesti. Putin has repeatedly laid down red lines during the war, only to humiliatingly allow them to
19:19be crossed without much in the way of a response. Ukraine and the many nations supporting it have seized the
19:24opportunity each time to raise the stakes. But this feels different. Will Putin once again fail to
19:30defend his own line, or was Starobilsk really the last straw, as Lavrov put it? And if Russia is both
19:35willing and more pertinently able to launch a truly devastating strike on Ukraine or beyond,
19:41how will the Western world react? Will the US and European nations be willing to risk nuclear
19:45devastation if, say, Putin decides to turn central Kyiv into a giant radioactive crater?
19:51Let's hope these questions remain speculation. But whatever happens, we'll be following closely
19:56and keeping you updated, so make sure you are subscribed to the channel. In the meantime,
20:00check out this video and decide for yourself whether Russia's so-called superweapons like the Oreshnik
20:05are all they're made out to be. And thank you for watching.
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