He Russian attack on the Ukrainian city of Dniproin the early hours of this Thursday, set off all the alarms regarding the new escalation in the war in Ukraine. Ukrainian authorities initially reported that the attack had occurred with a intercontinental ballistic missileone of the most powerful weapons in the world and which had never been used before.
However, the Kremlin assured, and the Pentagon confirmed hours later, that The missile used was actually a hypersonic missile never before used by Russian forces: the Oreshnik. It was Vladimir Putin who revealed the use of the new missile in the attack on Dnipro as response to kyiv’s use of American and British weapons.
A hypersonic missile with nuclear and “experimental” capability
The 9M729 Oreshnik has seen the light for the first time in the attack on Dnipro, being the first military use of this missile. Putin himself described the attack as a “successful test” of the new weapons, which It did not have a nuclear charge, but it has the capacity for it. Experts describe the escalation of the conflict due to the use of NATO weapons against Russian territory as a “warning” to the West.
If intercontinental ballistic missiles like the Rubezh They are the crown jewel of missiles, Intermediate range ballistic missiles (IRBM) are the second level: can reach distances between 3,000 and 5,500 kilometers and its armed head, composed of six warheadscan carry a nuclear charge or conventional explosives. According to the Russian version, the Oreshnik can reach a speed of 12,300 kilometers per hour, 10 times the speed of sound.
Information about the Oreshnik is very limited and there are hardly any images of the projectile, other than inside a protective casing. Ukrainian intelligence assures that was launched from a missile complex in the Russian region of Astrakhan, southern Russia and more than 800 kilometers from Dnipro, and says that the missile took just 15 minutes to reach Dnipro.
Its amazing speedhis semi-orbital flight and his ability to fire different warheads turn it into a extremely difficult target to intercept for anti-aircraft systems: in fact, it was one of the few devices that escaped the Ukrainian defense systems to end up impacting critical infrastructure in the Ukrainian city.
A warning to the West over the use of NATO weapons against Russia
Kremlin spokesman Dimitri S. Peskov assured the media that notified the United States 30 minutes before launcha claim that the Pentagon later corroborated. The United States National Security Council affirmed the launch of “an experimental medium-range ballistic missile against Ukraine,” and stated that Russia “probably has only a handful of these missiles” and has used them “to intimidate Ukraine and its allies”, without going into further details.
As explained by the director of military sciences at the Royal United Services Institute, Matthew Savill, in statements to APthe missile used on Thursday has a scope “far superior to any seen in this conflict.” until now, and possibly its first use in combat.”
All experts agree that the use of weapons is a unequivocal message from Russia to Ukraine and the West for the use of weapons from the United States and the United Kingdom: Putin assured that, if they are used again, Moscow will warn in advance for civilian evacuations in what he described as a humanitarian gesture, and asserted that “it doesn’t matter if the enemy knows it, since they can’t stop it.”