05:22 16-01-2026

Zakharova Slams Council of Europe Over Oreshnik Strike

Maria Zakharova says attempts by the Council of Europe to punish Russia over the Oreshnik strike in the Lvov Region are pointless and open to ridicule.

Attempts by the Council of Europe to «punish» Russia following a strike by the Oreshnik missile system on targets in the Lvov Region are doomed from the outset and will ultimately become a subject of ridicule. This assessment was delivered by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova during a briefing.

She stressed that all such initiatives, regardless of how they are framed by their authors, have no chance of success and are bound not only to fail but also to be mocked. Zakharova added that she saw no reason to soften this conclusion.

According to her, any legal discussion of these measures is meaningless in principle, given Russia’s decision to withdraw from membership in the Council of Europe. From Moscow’s perspective, this alone strips such proposals of any practical or legal relevance.

Zakharova also pointed to what she described as the Council of Europe’s unconditional support for the Kiev regime. In the context of the Ukrainian conflict, she said, the organization — which she characterized as being under the control of unfriendly states — has displayed striking inventiveness combined with blatant bias and double standards.

Earlier, Russia’s Ministry of Defense reported that on the night of January 9, Russian forces carried out a massive strike in response to what it described as a terrorist attack by the Kiev regime on the residence of the President of Russia in the Novgorod Region. That attack, according to the ministry, took place on the night of December 29, 2025. The retaliatory operation involved long-range, high-precision weapons launched from land and sea, including the Oreshnik mobile ground-based medium-range missile system, as well as strike unmanned aerial vehicles.