Putin: Oreshnik ballistic missile system will enter combat duty by end of 2025

Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin has claimed that the Oreshnik ballistic missile system will be put on combat duty by the end of 2025.

Details: Putin during a meeting of the board of the Russian Defence Ministry, as reported by Kremlin-aligned Russian news agency TASS

Quote: "By the end of the year, a medium-range missile system armed with an Oreshnik hypersonic missile will be put on combat duty. It was used in combat for the first time last November [to strike the city of Dnipro]."

Previously: On 31 October, it became known that one of Russia's three Oreshnik medium-range ballistic missiles had been destroyed by Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine and the Foreign Intelligence Service at the Kapustin Yar testing range on the night of 8-9 July 2024.

Background:

• Ukraine's Air Force noted that Russia used an intercontinental ballistic missile during a missile attack on the city of Dnipro on 21 November. Ukrainska Pravda sources reported that it might have been a Rubezh missile, a potential carrier of nuclear warheads.
• In an address on 21 November, Putin indirectly confirmed reports, which indicated that during the 21 November attack on Dnipro, Russia used a medium-range missile dubbed Oreshnik by Putin.
• The United States officially confirmed that Russia had struck Dnipro with a ballistic missile based on the RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile.
• On 22 November, Defence Intelligence of Ukraine stated that Russia had launched a ballistic missile, likely from the Kedr missile system, against Ukraine.
• Kyrylo Budanov, Head of Ukraine's Defence Intelligence, stated that "Oreshnik" is the name of a research project, "it's just a cypher". He added that as of October 2024, Russia was supposed to have manufactured two experimental samples of the Kedr missile system, one of which struck Dnipro on 21 November.
• On 28 November, Putin claimed that mass production of the Oreshnik system had begun. The Kremlin leader said he might use the Oreshnik missile against "decision-making centres in Kyiv".

Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!