Ukraine Says Electronic Warfare Diverted Two Russian Oreshnik Missiles

A Night Watch commander who uses the call sign “Alchemist” told The New York Times that a unit member used Ukraine’s Lima Quant jamming network against the missiles after U.S. intelligence warnings of an impending launch.

One weapon, he said, struck garages in the Kyiv region, miles from any military target. The second, he said, broke apart in flight and came down in Russian-occupied territory. The newspaper said those accounts could not be independently verified.

Strike Hits Garages in Bila Tserkva

The impact was recorded in Bila Tserkva, about 80 kilometers south of Kyiv. Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said a fire engulfed three garages at a cooperative, and regional prosecutors reported damage to an enterprise building. No casualties were reported.

The May 24 launches were the third use of the Oreshnik against Ukraine, after strikes on Dnipro in November 2024 and the Lviv region in January 2026.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said it had carried out a retaliatory strike with Oreshnik, Iskander, Kinzhal and Zircon missiles, and that assigned targets had been hit. President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Oreshnik had been launched against Bila Tserkva during a heavier overnight barrage.

How the Lima System Works

Lima was developed by Cascade Systems, a Ukrainian firm and Night Watch, a Kyiv-region territorial defense unit. Lima Quant was deployed around the capital in August 2025 as what Alchemist called a networked electromagnetic dome.

The system first jammed navigation signals and later spoofed GPS coordinates so that devices — and, officials say, incoming weapons — register a false location in Lima, Peru.

Cascade Systems said Lima diverted more than 30 cruise missiles and 10,000 drones in the first three months of 2026. Alchemist said 33 of 62 Kinzhals fired into its coverage broke apart midair. Those figures could not be independently checked.

Ukraine has also moved to build Space Forces to improve early warning against Oreshnik-class missiles.

Putin Calls the Strike a Test

President Vladimir Putin offered a different account on June 4 at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

“To be perfectly candid, I will share a major state military secret with you: we simply struck locations where it was possible to observe the results,” he said, according to the Kremlin transcript. “This applies to Belaya Tserkov and, even more so, to the DPR area within the main fortified zone.”

Putin said Russian drones later entered “the structure we hit” — a remark widely reported as a reference to a barn or shed — and observed how the warheads had landed. He added that there had been no “full combat use of the Oreshnik” across Ukrainian territory.

The Times reported that Russia appears to have mothballed both missiles, which Moscow has not confirmed.