Paris, May 24 (IANS) French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday condemned Russia's attack on Ukraine and especially the use of the Oreshnik ballistic missile in the attack.

"France condemns this attack and the use of the Oreshnik ballistic missile, which above all signals a kind of headlong rush and the impasse of Russia's war of aggression," Macron said on X.

He added that "Russian strikes continue to target civilian objectives in Ukraine, as they did again this night", and "Our determination to continue supporting Ukraine, to do everything possible for a just and lasting peace, and to strengthen Europe's security is only reinforced".

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also condemned the Russian attack on targets in Ukraine.

"Last night, Russia launched a massive attack on civilian targets in Ukraine. Once again, the Oreshnik missile system was used. The German government strongly condemns this reckless escalation. Germany remains firmly at Ukraine's side," Merz wrote on X.

Earlier on Sunday, the Russian Defence Ministry listed Oreschnik ballistic missiles as one of the weapons used to target "Ukrainian defence industry, military infrastructure, as well as command posts of the General Command of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine's Ministry of Defence, and other command posts of the Armed Forces of Ukraine."

"No strikes were planned or carried out against the civilian infrastructure of Ukraine," it highlighted.

According to Russia's state-owned Tass news agency, the Oreshnik ballistic missile is a Russian medium-range hypersonic ballistic missile.

"The system deploys dozens of homing warheads that strike the target at a velocity of Mach 10, equivalent to nearly three kilometre per second. The temperature of the impact elements reaches 4,000 degrees Celsius -- nearing the surface temperature of the sun, which is around 5,500-6,000 degrees. Consequently, everything within the explosion's epicentre is reduced to fractions, elementary particles, essentially turning to dust. The missile is capable of destroying even heavily fortified structures and those located at significant depths," according to the Russian President Vladimir Putin's description of the missile in 2024 at a Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) meeting.

"The Oreshnik system, of course, has no equivalents in the world, and I doubt we will see anything comparable in the foreseeable future," Putin said.

–IANS

ksk/khz