Not only did Russia use a hypersonic missile to target the European Union in western Ukraine near its border with Poland, but senior officials continued to brag about its nuclear arsenal in what some saw as a clear warning to the West.
The Ukrainian Air Force said the missile was armed with six warheads each and traveled at a speed of 13,000 kilometers per hour, but did not specify what exactly was fired.
It was the second time that Russia used Orshnik against Ukraine, a hypersonic missile that is impossible to intercept the country.
But Moscow’s choice to use it, a barrage of deadly weapons including ballistic missiles and drones, appears to be more about political messaging than military strategy.
In a post on social media platform Telegram, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who serves as deputy chairman of the country’s Security Council, compared Oreshnik’s strike to a much-needed antipsychotic in a world controlled by “unhinged actors” and “dangerous psychopaths.”
In the same post, Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro denounced the “hijacking” and seizure of a Russian-flagged shadow vessel.
‘Propaganda Tool’
The leaders of Britain, France and Germany condemned Russia’s use of the missile, while Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called the move “clear and dangerous.”
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called it a warning to the US and Europe.
But many residents on the streets of Kiev see it simply as another deadly Russian weapon. On Friday morning, crews were busy clearing the debris after four people, including a paramedic, were killed.
Oleksandr Polik, a 30-year-old resident, said what worries him more are the hundreds of Shahed drones that are regularly released over the city.
“It’s more important to think about this kind of tool than Oreshnik. Oreshnik is more of a propaganda tool,” Polik told CBC News in an interview with the Freelancer.
Every time they are not satisfied with some…negotiation, Russia fires this type of weapon.
An underused nuclear-capable missile
Russia announced Thursday night that it had launched an Oreshnik missile at a government facility in Ukraine in retaliation for last month’s failed drone attack on President Vladimir Putin’s residence.
Ukraine has called the allegations “absurd lies” and the United States has denied the attack.
For the first time, Russia used a medium-range missile in 2011. It is targeted at the Dnipro industrial facility in November 2024.
In a televised address hours after the strike, Putin said Oreshnik was launched by allowing the US and Ukraine to use long-range missiles to strike targets inside Russia.
He warned that NATO’s offensive was prompting Russia to test the weapon, which he said would be impossible to intercept.
What is different from Oreshnik?
Experts say that the Oreshnik differs from other ballistic missiles used by Russia against Ukraine in that it can travel at high speed and carry six warheads and individual targets.
According to Marina Miron, a post-doctoral researcher at King’s College London’s Department of Defense Studies, armor has three different levels.
The first is the booster phase, where it is launched and launched into space. This step is estimated to last two to four minutes, he said.
After entering space, the launch vehicle separates and returns to Earth, leaving behind a body called a “Multiple Independently-Targetable Reentry Vehicle (MIRV)” that carries the warhead and continues to travel through space.
In the third step, the MIRV adjusts the trajectory before the warhead is released.
Since each missile can carry six warheads with weapons, Miron said, “36 things could fall from the sky.”
Can it be hacked?
They say that it is impossible to intercept Ukraine Oreshnik, including Miron, because it does not have hypersonic interceptors, and it cannot target the weapon while passing through space.
When it rains, Miron said, the shots can be scattered over a wide area, making it more of a challenge.
“It’s like if you shoot a round and the round is flying and you try to intercept it by throwing a rock,” she said in a phone interview with CBC News from Munich.
You might get lucky, but the odds are close to zero.
Reports are submitted. The special interception systems that the US and Israel have are theoretically capable of intercepting this type of missile, but Miron said their effectiveness must be tested.
“You have to have layered air defenses,” she said.
But in general it is very difficult to do anything.
Why did Russia start it now?
According to Reuters, an unnamed senior Ukrainian official, Lviv Orshnyk, carried an inert or blunt warhead.
Many officials and defense experts believe Russia used the weapon as a warning to Ukraine’s allies.
“I think this is a clear message to Trump, Macron, Merz and European leaders,” Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said in an interview with Reuters.
The attack took place on the border of the European Union. And the same missile can reach European capitals in six to seven minutes.
It is not clear how many Oreshnik missile systems Russia has, although Moscow announced its delivery last year. Some to BelarusA key military ally for the Kremlin. Moscow It started early Some attacks on Ukraine from the territory of Belarus.
Glenn Grant, a retired British lieutenant colonel and defense expert at the Baltic Security Foundation in Latvia, said Russia has used expensive hypersonic weapons to successfully target the same types of infrastructure it has been striking with drones and other missiles.
Instead, he believes it was only used for a political message.
“In other words, if we can fly this far, we can fly all the way to Warsaw, or we can fly to Riga, or we can fly to Tallinn,” he told CBC News in a Zoom interview from Riga, Latvia.
“And of course, it has nuclear capabilities.”