Russia on Sunday (Could 24) launched what Ukrainian officers stated was a nuclear-capable hypersonic Oreshnik missile in one in all its largest aerial barrages on Kyiv for the reason that struggle started.
It’s the third reported use of the intermediate-range ballistic missile in Ukraine since 2024, underscoring Moscow’s rising willingness to deploy its strongest experimental weapons within the battle.
Whereas Russia has used an assortment of missiles all through its greater than four-year struggle, army analysts stated none have the identical vary, pace and harmful potential because the Oreshnik.
This is what we all know concerning the weapon, and why it’s vital.
What’s the Oreshnik?
The Oreshnik, named after the Russian phrase for hazel tree, is an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), that means it might strike targets roughly 3,000km to five,500km away. This put all of Europe inside vary.
Ukrainian army officers stated in 2024 that the missile can attain speeds of as much as Mach 11 (about 13,580kmh), or 11 instances the pace of sound.
Russian state media has claimed that the missile might take simply 11 minutes to succeed in an air base in Poland and 17 minutes to succeed in NATO’s headquarters in Brussels.
In keeping with the Kremlin, the Oreshnik is a “state-of-the-art” weapon that can not be intercepted.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin stated in 2024 that the missile’s harmful components might attain a temperature near the floor of the solar.
“Due to this fact, the whole lot within the epicentre of the explosion breaks up into fractions, into elementary particles, primarily into mud,” he stated.
Most importantly, army specialists stated the Oreshnik could possibly be geared up to hold nuclear warheads.
The US defence division has described Oreshnik as an “experimental” IRBM, believed to be derived from Russia’s RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile.
