Macron condemns Russia's Oreshnik missile use against Ukraine

French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday condemned Russia's overnight strikes on Ukrainian civilian targets and called out Moscow's reported use of the Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile — a nuclear-capable weapon — according to AFP.

The condemnation, posted directly on X by Macron, signals France's formal objection to Russia's escalating use of advanced weapon systems — a conflict that continues to shape Western alliances and global security discussions relevant to Korean-American communities closely watching the war's diplomatic fallout.

"Russian strikes against civilian targets in Ukraine continue," Macron wrote on X. "France condemns this attack and the use of the Oreshnik ballistic missile," he said, according to AFP. The statement represented Paris' most direct public rebuke yet of Moscow's choice of battlefield weaponry.

Macron characterized the overnight attacks as evidence of Russian military failure, saying they signaled "the dead end of Russia's war of aggression." The remarks framed Russia's escalation not as a show of strength but as a sign of strategic desperation.

The Oreshnik is a hypersonic ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Russia's reported deployment of the weapon against Ukrainian targets drew particular alarm from European governments, with France among the first to name the system explicitly in an official condemnation.

Russia's overnight offensive struck civilian areas across Ukraine, extending a pattern of aerial bombardment that has drawn repeated international criticism. Western governments have called on Moscow to cease attacks on noncombatant infrastructure, without success.

France's statement adds to a growing chorus of European condemnations as governments face mounting pressure to respond to Moscow's expanding use of advanced munitions in the more than four-year-old conflict.

France's condemnation arrives as European governments weigh their collective response to Moscow's widening arsenal deployment — and as Macron positions Paris as one of Ukraine's most vocal defenders in the West.