Russia recently deployed its new Oreshnik missile, first striking the Ukrainian city of Dnipro at the end of last month. This move came as a response to Ukraine’s use of advanced weaponry provided by France, the United States, and the United Kingdom to target Russian forces. Following the missile launch, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that “as of today, there are no means of counteracting such a weapon.”
During the announcement, Putin also issued a stark warning to nations supporting Ukraine’s defense against Russia, stating that “we consider ourselves entitled to use our weapons against the military facilities of those countries that allow their weapons to be used against our facilities.”
On Tuesday, Putin emphasized the role of the Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile, suggesting it could reduce reliance on nuclear weapons. Addressing the Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights, he remarked, “By and large, what we need now is not to improve the nuclear doctrine, but the Oreshnik. A sufficient number of these modern systems simply puts the need for the use of nuclear weapons on the brink of virtually no need,” as quoted by Russian state media.
In Ukraine, Andrii Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation, commented on the strategic intentions behind Russia’s actions. Writing on Telegram, Kovalenko suggested that Russia’s deployment of these missiles in Belarus is primarily aimed at generating fear in Europe. This comes as a reaction to several countries’ decisions to allow Ukraine to use their supplied weapons to strike targets within Russian territory.
Veronika Melkozerova contributed additional reporting to this article.
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