The Kremlin kept up the pressure on Kyiv with an attack by Oreshnik missiles, as Europe mulls committing a peacekeeper force to a post-war Ukraine.

Russia hit Ukraine with its powerful intermediate-range ballistic Oreshnik missile on January 8, one of the most fearsome in its arsenal that can reach any European capital.

Lviv was hit and in addition in Kyiv, due to a massive Russian attack, four people died, and there are interruptions with electricity and water in the city.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that after the Russian Federation's nighttime air attack, in which Russia used the Oreshnik medium-range ballistic missile, a clear response from the world, in particular from the United States, is needed.

Zelenskiy said: "A clear response from the world is needed. First of all, from the United States, which Russia really counts on. Russia must receive signals that it is its duty to focus on diplomacy, and feel the consequences every time it focuses again on killings and destroying infrastructure."

“Overall, last night there were 242 drones. There were also 13 ballistic missiles targeting energy facilities and civilian infrastructure, one Oreshnik medium-range ballistic missile, as well as 22 cruise missiles. The attack took place exactly when there was a significant cold spell. Aimed precisely against the normal life of ordinary people,” he said.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha called for an urgent United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting to condemn the attack, which was clearly designed as a threat against Europe as well, which has little protection against this class of missile.

“Russia claims it used an intermediate range ballistic missile, so-called Oreshnik, against the Lviv region. 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,” Sybiha said on X. “We demand strong responses to Russia’s reckless actions. We are informing the US, European partners, and all countries and international organizations about the details of this dangerous strike through diplomatic channels.”

The attack comes as peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are in danger of stalling. A lot of progress has been made in the last two months. At a Moscow meeting on December 3 the US envoys thrashed out a 27-point peace plan (27PPP) at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Following a Berlin meeting on December 14-15 and the subsequent Mar-a-Lago meeting on December 28, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy countered with a 20-point peace plan (20PPP) submitted to the Kremlin on Christmas Eve. A significant gap still exists between the two sides, but this week Zelenskiy said the war may end by summer.

However, the Europeans are complicating the talks. At a Paris meeting on January 6 France and the US agreed to commit to an international peacekeeping force that would be stationed in a post-war Ukraine as a security guarantee. The idea is a deal-killer for the Kremlin which said this week that any international troops in Ukraine would be considered combatants and could be hunted down and killed.

The Kremlin said the Oreshnik strike was in retaliation for a purported attack on Putin’s Valdai resident by Ukraine, a claim that Bankova has dismissed as a “lie.” As bne IntelliNews reported, the attack was likely an invention to punish Zelenskiy for not conceding a deal at the Mar-a-Lago meeting and a justification for scaling up attacks on Ukraine as peace talks progress.

“It is absurd that Russia attempts to justify this strike with the fake ‘Putin residence attack’ that never happened. Another proof that Moscow does not need any real reasons for its terror and war. Putin uses an [ICBM] near the EU and NATO border in response to his own hallucinations — this is truly a global threat. And it demands global responses,” said Sybiha, reports Interfax.

Peacekeepers in the crosshairs

Despite the progress, the EU proposals threaten to derail the peace process. In his end of year marathon press conference in December, Putin warned that Europe has become the main impediment to halting the war. Russia has warned that any Western military forces deployed to Ukraine under any post-war security deal would be 'legitimate combat targets.'

On January 8 the Kremlin sharply criticised a newly signed Paris “declaration of intent” outlining security guarantees for Kyiv that includes possibly sending between 7,500-15,000 British and French troops to Ukraine and building a military base there.

In a statement posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Telegram channel, spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the declaration, backed by Ukraine, the US and several European countries, was “not aimed at peace” but at “further militarizing Ukraine and escalating the conflict.” She specifically objected to provisions calling for a multinational force.

"All such units and facilities will be considered as legitimate combat targets of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation," Zakharova said. "These warnings have been voiced more than once at the highest level and remain relevant."

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said this week the UK and France signed a declaration of intent to deploy forces to Ukraine in the event of a peace deal, including establishing “military hubs” and facilities to store weapons and equipment after a ceasefire.

"It paves the way for the legal framework under which British, French and partner forces could operate on Ukrainian soil – securing Ukraine’s skies and seas – and regenerating Ukraine’s armed forces for the future," Starmer told reporters at a press conference after the Coalition of the Willing meeting in Paris.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was more reticent. Germany will not participate directly in any peacekeeper mission, although it will continue to support Bankova with money and arms. Merz also said some German troops may be deployed to adjacent Nato member countries in the EU. However, in a rare moment of realism, he admitted that the Kremlin needs to agree to the plan.

The German Chancellor stated that Britain and France cannot just send troops to Ukraine. "This whole process cannot happen without Russia's consent," he told journalists.

Zelenskiy said on January 8 the document on European security guarantees is essentially "ready for finalization at the highest level with the President of the US."

"Complex issues from the basic framework for ending the war were also addressed, and the Ukrainian side presented possible options for finalizing this document," he added. "We understand that the American side will engage with Russia, and we expect feedback on whether the aggressor is genuinely willing to end the war."

During the night attack, the Russians also damaged the Qatari embassy in Kyiv.

Dnipro attacks

The diplomatic fencing comes as Russia also hit the regional city of Dnipro with a large-scale drone and missile attack, disabling power and heating in the midst of winter.

The situation in Dnipro remains one of the most challenging technically. This is a national-level emergency, city mayor Borys Filatov said, reports Iuliia Mendel, Zelenskiy’s former press secretary in a post on social media.

After the strike, hospitals are gradually restoring electricity. Medical facilities have alternative power sources and necessary reserves. The city’s sewage system was knocked out but it is being repaired. The local power supply was disabled and water pumping stations were also hit. Most damaging of all is that all the city's boiler houses were de-energized and have yet to go back online.

The attack is emblematic of a change in tactics by Russia. Starting in 2023, the Armed Forces of Russia (AFR) started knocking out Ukraine’s non-nuclear power capacity, however, since this summer a missile war has begun where the Kremlin has expanded the scope of its attacks and is targeting more general economic, transport and civil infrastructure designed to make Ukraine unliveable. The last step in this process will be to target the vulnerable ultra-high voltage 750kV substations that supply entire cities and regions with power. Two of the total of 90 substations in Sumy and Odesa have already been destroyed in what is clearly a warning to Bankova of what could come next.

The latest attack on January 8 plunged two more regions into darkness. Russia’s latest strikes on Ukraine’s energy facilities left hundreds of thousands without power and heating during the coldest winter months. The country’s fourth-largest city, Dnipro, along with its surrounding region and the neighboring Zaporizhzhia region, was targeted by a large Russian drone and missile attack, according to local authorities.

Ukraine’s largest private energy company, DTEK, reported that the power outages affected approximately 600,000 households in the Dnipropetrovsk region. On the same night, the Zaporizhzhia region experienced a complete blackout as a result of damage done to energy facilities.

“This is Russia’s war specifically against our people, against life in Ukraine – an attempt to break Ukraine”, said President Zelenskyy. He emphasized that such attacks lack any strategic rationale. “Diplomatic discussions cannot be a pretext for slowing down the supply of air defense systems”, he added.