Russia continues testing missiles similar to Oreshnik

According to RIA Novosti, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting at the Kremlin with the Defense Ministry leadership on November 22. Assessing the importance of the new Oreshnik missile for Russia, President Putin said that the results achieved and the speed of its development evoke pride and admiration. The tests of this system show that the domestic rocket science sector is capable of solving problems to ensure Russia's sovereignty.

“Developments such as the Oreshnik missile are of vital importance for the country,” President Putin asserted.

According to Mr. Putin, the Oreshnik missiles are not a modernization of old Soviet systems, they are the result of the work of current specialists.

In the near future, Oreshnik will be put into service with the missile forces. The decision to mass produce this weapon has been made and is being practically organized.

President Putin said that the widespread use of the new missiles against enemy targets would be comparable to strategic weapons. However, Oreshnik is not considered a weapon of mass destruction.

“In fact, the Oreshnik system is not a strategic weapon; in any case, it is not an intercontinental ballistic missile; it is not a weapon of mass destruction, also because it is a high-precision weapon,” President Putin said.

Reiterating the outstanding capabilities of Oreshnik, President Putin affirmed that no weapon can defeat it. Therefore, the testing of Oreshnik will continue. In Russia, there are currently a number of missile systems like Oreshnik.

“As far as we know, no country in the world has such weapons. But sooner or later it will appear in other leading countries. That is a story for tomorrow, a year, or in two years. But now we have this system and this is very important,” President Putin emphasized.

Revealing details of the first combat use of the Oreshnik ballistic missile, the Russian Defense Ministry said: “On November 21, 2024, the armed forces conducted a combined strike on one of the targets of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex in Dnepropetrovsk. For the first time in combat conditions, a medium-range ballistic missile with a nuclear warhead was used. The Oreshnik hypersonic device was successfully used in the strike.”