Fragments of a russian Oreshnik medium-range ballistic missile that fell on Bila Tserkva in the Kyiv Region not only destroyed several garages but also left craters 2 meters deep. The Defense Express portal reported this on Monday, May 25, citing its own sources.
The portal’s sources stated that craters 2 meters deep and 3 meters in diameter formed at the impact site of the missile segments. Due to the high energy of the impact, the segments themselves were destroyed by extreme fragmentation and partial vaporization upon impact. For this reason, it is impossible to say with certainty what exactly fell on Bila Tserkva: “tungsten rods” or the casings of large-scale mock-up warheads.
The size of the craters allows for an estimate of the impact energy. It amounts to approximately 220–400 MJ (megajoules). This is comparable to the explosion of 52–95 kilograms of explosive material in TNT equivalent. Very roughly, the fall of the rocket blocks is equivalent to the impact of 36 Shahed-type drones with reinforced warheads.
At the same time, it is important to consider the completely different nature of energy release resulting from a kinetic impact versus a chemical explosion.
The portal notes that following the two previous uses of the Oreshnik missile against Dnipro and Lviv, russian propagandists began spreading the claim that the missile had allegedly been equipped with "tungsten rods," which have high penetration capabilities and are capable of striking underground shelters. The craters discovered in Bila Tserkva completely refute this claim.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, on the night of May 23–24, the occupiers used an Oreshnik missile to strike Bila Tserkva. Fragments of the missile struck a garage cooperative; there were no casualties.
Later, a video was posted online, allegedly filmed in the occupied part of the Donetsk Region. It shows simulated warheads falling. This was observed in Bila Tserkva during the attack, as well as in Dnipro and Lviv, when they were struck by Oreshnik missiles.
The OSINT project CyberBoroshno confirmed that the video was filmed by a camera installed in the eastern part of the occupied Donetsk. The camera was pointed north-northwest. Its field of view includes Avdiivka, Yasynuvata, Kramatorsk, Izium, Vovchansk, and the russian city of Belgorod.
Yurii Ihnat, the head of the Communications Department of the Ukrainian Air Forces, stated in a comment to the media that the military has so far confirmed the use of only one Oreshnik.
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