Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the mass deployment of the Oreshnik intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) could rival the destructive power of nuclear weapons, highlighting its precision and strategic potential.
During a meeting with military officials, representatives of the defense industry and those developing missile systems in Moscow, Putin said that the Oreshnik is not only an ICBM and a means of mass destruction, but also a high-precision weapon.
“I would like to emphasize one more aspect here. The Oreshnik missile system is not only an effective hypersonic weapon. “Because of its power, especially when used en masse and in combination with other long-range precision systems that Russia also has, when used against enemy targets it will be comparable in effect and strength to the use of strategic weapons,” Putin said.
Strategic weapons generally refer to the primary armament of the Russian armed forces, focused on strategic and tactical nuclear weapons. Often referred to as the nuclear triad, it includes land-based missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles and strategic bombers.
Claiming that no existing defense system can counter the Oreshnik, Putin announced that serial production of the missile had been organized and that it would be integrated into the Strategic Missile Forces.
He added that Russia was testing similar systems, which would be put into production after successful evaluations.
“In other words, we have a whole range of medium- and short-range systems,” Putin said.
Strategic Missile Forces Commander Sergei Karakayev said that the tests of the latest medium-range ballistic missiles equipped with hypersonic non-nuclear warheads was carried out on Thursday in combat conditions.
“The launch was successful, the mission tasks were fulfilled, and the strategic target on Ukrainian territory was hit,” Karakayev said.
He added that the launch results confirmed the correctness of the design, engineering and technological solutions incorporated into the project, as well as the feasibility of the missile complex with the specified specifications.
He praised the system’s ability to overcome existing and future missile defense mechanisms, describing its hypersonic warheads as effective against various targets, including heavily fortified ones.
“Given the specific tasks and range of the weapon, it can hit targets across Europe, offering significant advantages over other types of long-range precision weapons. As you noted earlier, the mass use of this weapon would be comparable to the use of nuclear weapons,” he said.
Vasily Tonkoshkurov, first deputy chairman of the Russian military-industrial committee, noted that the Oreshnik was developed quickly using entirely Russian technologies.
Putin announced on Thursday the attack on a Ukrainian military facility in the Dnieper using the Oreshnik hypersonic missile in response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory with long-range missiles of American and British production.
After more than a thousand days of Russia’s war against Ukraine that began in February 2022, Kiev attacked the Russian region of Bryansk with six American-made ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, attacks were carried out with British Storm Shadow and HIMARS in the Kursk region, AA writes.
