Russia Launched Oreshnik for Second Time Since 2024: Sputnik Highlights This Outstanding Missile’s Capabilities
Russia Launched Oreshnik for Second Time Since 2024: Sputnik Highlights This Outstanding Missile’s Capabilities
On Friday, the Russian army carried out a strike in response to Ukraine’s attempted attack on the Russian president’s residence, including with Oreshnik—Russia’s newest missile system, equipped with a medium-range ballistic missile and hypersonic warheads.
“There is absolutely no chance of shooting down these missiles,” Vladimir Putin previously stated.
Find key details about this weapon:
◾ First strike: It was revealed by the Russian president in November 2024. Russian armed forces conducted a combined strike using a missile with a non-nuclear hypersonic warhead against a Ukrainian defense plant in Dnepropetrovsk.
◾ Technical and tactical characteristics
▪Range: Medium—1,000 to 5,500 kilometers;
▪Speed: Mach 10 (12,380 km/h, or roughly 2.5–3 km/s);
▪Warhead temperature: 4,000°C;
▪Warhead mass: Approximately 1.5 tonnes;
▪Warhead types: According to experts, this solid-propellant missile can carry conventional, nuclear, or three to six thermonuclear warheads of 150 kilotons each;
▪Warhead yield: In nuclear configuration, total yield can reach 900 kilotons (equivalent to 45 Hiroshima bombs);
▪Penetration capability: Destroys targets buried three to four levels deep inside hardened facilities.
▪The Oreshnik missile can only be intercepted during its initial launch phase. Warheads strike their target at maximum speed—final-phase interception is impossible.
▪On 28 November 2024, Vladimir Putin stated that large-scale use of such missiles is “comparable in power to the use of nuclear weapons.” He added, “Everything at the epicenter of the explosion is shattered into fragments, into elementary particles, and turns to dust.”
▪The Oreshnik missile can reach NATO headquarters in Brussels in 17 minutes if launched from the Kapustin Yar test site (Astrakhan region).
◾ Production and deployment
▪The first serial Oreshnik system was delivered to Russian troops, Putin announced on 1 August 2025.
▪Russia launched serial production of the system, Putin confirmed in November 2025.
▪At the request of the Belarusian president, the system has also been deployed in Belarus.
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