Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a mysterious new intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) was tested in an attack on Ukraine which defence analysts say could constitute a significant threat.
Its name, according to Putin, is the “Oreshnik”, which translates to Hazel Tree. The Russian leader said it was deployed in an attack on the city of Dnipro in central Ukraine on Thursday, in response to Kyiv being allowed to use American and British long-range weaponry to strike targets in Russia.
Unverified footage shared online of the attack appeared to show multiple bright flashes of light raining down with immense speed. Local officials said a rehabilitation centre for people with disabilities, as well as several homes, were damaged, but there were no reported deaths.
Here is what we know about the missile:
What are its capabilities?
Putin described the IRBM as a hypersonic ballistic missile that is capable of travelling at speeds 10 times faster than sound.
According to reports, the Oreshnik has a reported range of 5,000km (about 3,100 miles) and is designed to be difficult to intercept.
The US Department of Defence said the missile that Russia fired was based on the RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which can carry an 800kg nuclear warhead and has a range of between 2,000km and 5,800km (about 1,200 miles to 3,600 miles).
The Oreshnik appears to have multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles (MIRV), which are warheads that separate from the missile, allowing operators to increase the amount of destructive power of each missile.
The US has “de-MIRVed” its deployed ICBMs to a single warhead to comply with New Start, a nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia. But Russia continues to develop ICBMs with MIRV technology.
If the Oreshnik is armed with MIRV technology, or manouevring re-entry vehicles (MARV) that enable precision strikes, “that would constitute a substantial threat to both civilian and military targets”, said James Bosbotinis, a defence and international affairs expert.
“Oreshnik will be a dual-capable system, that is, nuclear and conventionally-armed,” he told i.
“It is likely that, at present, only very few missiles are available, but Russia probably intends to deploy the missile in greater numbers in due course.”
If confirmed, experts say Thursday’s attack is the first time MIRV has been used in combat.
Can it evade air defences?
Putin said he had no fear of a response from his enemies if he deploys the Oreshnik in Ukraine again.
“Why no fear? Because, as of today, there is no means to counter such weapons,” he said.
But this claim is almost certainly not true, said Timothy Wright, a research associate at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
He pointed to previous instances where Putin had revealed new weaponry, such as the Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile in 2018 – which was dubbed the “flying Chernobyl” – and touted that they were “invincible”. He made similar claims about the Zircon anti-ship hypersonic cruise missile and Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missile, both of which have been used in Ukraine.
“Both of those have been confirmed to have been shot down by Western-supplied air defences in Ukraine,” Wright told i.
“Putin made claims that these are unstoppable, but it’s propaganda and bluff. It certainly would be very challenging for Western air defences to intercept them, but I think ‘impossible’ is a seriously big claim, which I don’t think is accurate.”
Why did Russia deploy it now?
Putin said the missile was being tested in the Dnipro strike, apparently against a missile and defence firm, and that the tests were “successful, with the target being hit as intended”.
Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh described the missile Russia had launched – without calling it an Oreshnik – as “experimental”. She later clarified that it was “the first time it was used on the battlefield”, suggesting it was not in operational capacity and still in development.
Wright said Russia had a history of testing weapons in combat, including in Ukraine with Zircon missiles.
“In Syria in 2015, they were testing ballistic and cruise missiles that they had recently put into service in their armed forces, just to essentially say ‘we can do this on a testing range, we can see how it works in a live operating environment’,” he added.
What has Ukraine and the West said?
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia’s use of the new missile amounts to “a clear and severe escalation”. Ukrainian officials, speaking to local media, initially claimed the missile used in the Dnipro attack was an ICBM, but Western allies have cast doubt on that assessment.
Singh said the US was notified “briefly before the launch” about the missile launch through nuclear risk reduction channels.
The two countries have a pre-launch notification agreement dating to 1988.
“Russia and the US, as the world’s largest nuclear powers, routinely share advanced notice of any ballistic missile launches (including tests) so as to avoid any unintended escalation,” James Black, assistant director of the defence and security research group at Rand Europe, told i.
“They have various early-warning radars, satellites, and other sensors to detect missile launches of this kind. Neither country wants the other to accidentally misinterpret a launch as the beginning of a nuclear attack, so this sort of communication is important to avoid misperceptions and maintain strategic stability.
“This practice stretches back to the Cold War, made famous in popular culture by the so-called ‘red telephone’ hotline established between the US and the Kremlin after the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.”
On Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia had not been technically obliged to warn the US about the strike because the missile used had been intermediate-range rather than intercontinental, but he said Moscow had informed the US 30 minutes before the launch anyway.
In its first public assessment of the new weapon on Friday, the Ukrainian military’s Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) said the missile that struck Dnipro reached a top speed of more than 8,000mph and took 15 minutes to reach its target from its launch about 600 miles away in Russia’s Astrakhan region.
What next?
Putin had previously warned that letting Ukraine use long-range missiles against Russian targets would put Nato “at war” with Moscow.
On Thursday he said that the testing of the Oreshnik was done directly in response to “Nato’s aggressive actions against Russia,” namely the decision to allow Ukraine to launch US-supplied ATACMS and British Storm Shadow long-range missiles at Russian targets.
“We consider ourselves entitled to use our weapons against military facilities of those countries that allow to use their weapons against our facilities, and in case of an escalation of aggressive actions, we will respond decisively and in mirror-like manner,” he said.
Black noted the timing of the Oreshnik launch, as both Russia and Ukraine attempt to “maximise their position and leverage” for any potential negotiations for a peace deal under a new Trump administration.
“The use of an intermediate-range ballistic missile against Ukraine was certainly intended as a political signal to the United States and Ukraine’s other Western backers, as opposed to an act of military expediency,” he said.
Using such weaponry “is neither an effective nor a cost-efficient way of delivering a conventional payload against targets in Ukraine”, Black added, saying “we can safely assume that the primary purpose was to signal Russia’s strong displeasure” at the US and UK.
