Putin claims new Oreshnik missile could rival nuclear weapons

Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed 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, defense industry representatives, and missile system developers in Moscow on Friday, Putin said 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 just an effective hypersonic weapon. Due to its striking power, especially when used en masse and in combination with other long-range precision systems that Russia also has, using it against enemy targets will be comparable in effect and power to using strategic weapons,” he said.

Strategic weapons refer broadly to the primary armament of Russia’s armed forces, centered around strategic and tactical nuclear arms.

Often referred to as the nuclear triad, these include land-based missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and strategic bombers.

Claiming that no existing defense system could counter the Oreshnik, Putin announced that serial production of the missile had been organized, and it would be integrated into the Strategic Missile Forces.

Russia is testing similar systems, which will be brought into production following successful evaluations, he said, adding, “In other words, we have a whole line of medium- and shorter-range systems.”

For his part, Commander of the Strategic Missile Forces Sergei Karakayev said the tests of the latest medium-range ballistic missile equipped with hypersonic non-nuclear warheads were conducted on Thursday under combat conditions.

The launch was successful, the mission assignments were fulfilled, and a strategic target on the Ukrainian territory was hit, Karakayev said.

“The results of the launch confirmed the correctness of the design, engineering, and technological solutions embedded in the project, as well as the feasibility of the missile complex with the specifications in question,” he added.

Karakayev praised the system’s ability to overcome current and future missile defense mechanisms, describing its hypersonic warheads as effective against diverse targets, including heavily fortified ones.

“Given the weapon’s designated tasks and range, it can hit targets across Europe, offering significant advantages over other types of long-range precision weapons. As you earlier noted, the mass use of this weapon would be comparable to the use of nuclear weapons,” he said.

Vasily Tonkoshkurov, first deputy chair of Russia’s military-industry commission, highlighted that the Oreshnik was developed rapidly using entirely Russian technologies.

The official assured that issues of import substitution were resolved, enabling swift commencement of serial production.

On Thursday, Putin announced a strike on a Ukrainian war plant in Dnipro using the hypersonic Oreshnik missile in response to attacks on Russian territory that used US- and British-made long-range missiles.

After more than a thousand days of the Russian war on Ukraine, which started in February 2022, Kyiv attacked Russia’s Bryansk region with six US-made ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles on Tuesday, and on Wednesday strikes with UK-made Storm Shadow and HIMARS were carried out on the Kursk region.

In Kursk, the attack struck a military command post, causing both fatalities and injuries among security and support personnel.