Ukrainian experts say Russian Oreshnik ballistic missile is based on outdated technology – CNN

Ukrainian experts have concluded that Russia's "latest" development is based on outdated technology, judging by remnants of a Russian Oreshnik missile deployed in an attack on Dnipro in 2024.

Source: CNN; United24 Media, a Ukrainian digital media platform

Details: Andrii Kulchytskyi, an expert at the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise, told CNN that the Oreshnik missile wreckage suggests that there was "nothing so terrible about its use".

"Here is a gyroscope from Oreshnik – Yuri Gagarin flew with one of these", he commented.

Another expert said Soviet-era vacuum tubes were found among the wreckage.

United24 Media reported that the missile's inertial navigation system is controlled by an analogue gyroscope. Control boards recovered from the debris indicate the presence of glass-enclosed electron tubes – likely krytrons or high-frequency resonators – suggesting the missile's architecture is not fully digital.

Some components bear manufacturing markings from 2018, indicating that they were probably intended for earlier projects.

Previously:

• Back in November 2024, after the first use of the Oreshnik against the city of Dnipro, Kyrylo Budanov, then head of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, said that Oreshnik was "just a cipher" and the system itself is called Kedr.
• Vadym Skibitskyi, Deputy Head of DIU, said Russia began new R&D work in 2018-2019 called Kedr RV. The goal was to develop a missile system to replace the RS-24 Yars, a missile that was in service in the Soviet Union and is now back on combat duty in Russia.
• The Kedr missile system was developed on the basis of the Rubezh, but according to Skibitskyi, "something went wrong" for the Russians and they stopped working on it in 2017. Instead, Russia launched a new R&D project which it called Oreshnik.

Background:

• On the night of 8-9 January, Russian forces attacked Ukraine with 278 airborne assets – 36 missiles and 242 drones of various types. The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia had used one medium-range ballistic missile, the Oreshnik, launched from the Kapustin Yar test range in Astrakhan Oblast, Russia.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that a clear response from the world is needed, particularly from the United States, after the large-scale strike.
• Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that Russia's Oreshnik missile strike on Lviv Oblast, near the borders of the EU and NATO, poses a threat to Europe's security and requires a tough response from Kyiv's partners.
• The UN Security Council is set to convene an emergency meeting on 12 January at Ukraine's request to address Russian attacks, particularly the use of the Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile.

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