(Dan Tri) - Russia launched the Oreshnik missile as a strategic message to the world after the West allowed Ukraine to use long-range aid weapons to attack deep into Russian territory, British intelligence said.
(Illustration: Avia Pro).
"The use of this experimental system against Ukraine is almost certainly intended to send a strategic message after Ukraine used Western missiles targeting Russia," Pravda quoted a report from the British Ministry of Defense Intelligence Agency on November 29.
The agency recalled that in February 2019, Russia announced its withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which banned the development and production of such missiles. However, British intelligence believes that Russia may have begun the process of developing the Oreshnik since withdrawing from the treaty.
British analysts point out that the Oreshnik missile could be a variant of the RS-26 Rubezh ballistic missile first tested in 2011. They estimate that Russia only possesses a handful of Oreshnik missiles and has yet to begin mass production.
On November 21, Russia launched a barrage of missiles at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro in response to Kiev's attacks on Russia with Western long-range weapons.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said shortly afterwards that this was a new generation of medium-range hypersonic missile tested in combat conditions. This missile has a speed of 10 times that of sound, making it almost impossible to intercept.
The Oreshnik is capable of carrying multiple warheads, including both conventional and nuclear warheads, he added. The missile can target well-protected structures deep underground, making it effective against hardened targets such as bunkers.
Although not a weapon of mass destruction, Oreshnik still has the potential to cause massive destruction without using nuclear power.
The unnamed Ukrainian official said the Oreshnik missile that hit Dnipro on November 21 used a non-explosive warhead and caused only limited damage. According to the New York Times , the Oreshnik attack served a political rather than a military purpose.
Western military experts have analyzed fragments recovered from the Oreshnik missile used to attack Ukraine and how it dropped multiple warheads on the same target area.
They believe that the technology used by Oreshnik is actually old technology that has existed for many years on intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) but was designed by Russia in a new way.
Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program in the US, said that ballistic missiles with the range of the Oreshnik missile are all hypersonic and can be intercepted by interceptor missiles such as Israel's Arrow 3 and the US's SM-3 Block 2A.
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-gioi/tinh-bao-anh-giai-ma-viec-nga-phong-ten-lua-khong-the-danh-chan-20241130134219771.htm
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