MOSCOW – President Vladimir Putin claimed Russia fired a new hypersonic medium-range ballistic missile at Ukraine in reaction to the latter’s use of US and British weapons against Russia. What is a “Oreshnik” (Hazel tree)? What did Putin say?

Putin said on Thursday that the Ukraine crisis was turning into a global confrontation after the US and UK permitted Ukraine to launch missiles deeper into Russia, warning the West that Moscow could respond. In direct retaliation to Ukraine’s firing of US and British missiles on November 21, he stated that Russia had launched a “Oreshnik,” one of its most recent intermediate-range missiles, targeting a defence facility in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. The city is home to the missile and space rocket firm Pivdenmash, also known as Yuzhmash in Russian.

According to Putin, the “Oreshnik” missile is a hypersonic ballistic missile that travels at 10 times the speed of sound and cannot be intercepted. According to Russian sources, the missile has a range of 5,000 km (3,100 miles), allowing Russia to strike most of Europe and the west coast of the United States. The missile has multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles with separate warheads that can hit different targets.

According to Anatoly Matviychuk, a Russian military specialist, it could carry six to eight conventional or nuclear warheads and was most likely already in operation. Yuri Podolyaka, a notable Ukrainian-born, pro-Russian military blogger, agreed. According to the Pentagon, Russia fired a missile based on the “RS-26 Rubezh” intercontinental ballistic missile. It stated that the United States had been alerted of the launch through nuclear risk reduction procedures.

WHAT DID UKRAINE SAY? The Ukrainian air force claimed that Russia had shot an ICBM at Dnipro, but the US denied this. ICBMs have a range of more than 5,500 kilometres (3,400 miles). President Volodymyr Zelenskiy described Russia’s attack with a new type of ballistic missile as a “clear and severe escalation” and called for global condemnation. WHAT IS THE RS-26? The RS-26 is a solid-fueled, road-mobile ballistic missile that began development in 2008. In 2019, the United States formally withdrew from the landmark 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with Russia, alleging that Moscow was violating the agreement, which the Kremlin rejected. The US stated at the time that Russia was

developing a ground-based cruise missile.