Russia is considering launching an Oreshnik nuclear-capable intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) once again at Ukraine this weekend, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Dec. 13, citing an unnamed representative of the U.S. National Security Council.
Russia launched an Oreshnik missile without a nuclear warhead at the city of Dnipro in Ukraine on Nov. 21. Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed the strike was in response to Ukraine's use of U.S. and British long-range missiles to attack Russian territory.
The unnamed official said that Russia wanted to use the weapon to intimidate Ukraine and its supporters, but the Oreshnik "does not change the rules of the game on the battlefield."
"As (Vladimir) Putin has said publicly, Russia intends to launch another experimental Oreshnik missile at Ukraine, and it is possible that Russia could do so in the coming days," the source told FT.
The Oreshnik is likely not a new Russian development but a modification of the RS-26 missile, also known as the Rubezh, Fabian Hoffmann, a defense expert and doctoral research fellow at the University of Oslo, told the Kyiv Independent.
"I think basically they (Russians) just took apart the RS-26 or just cannibalized it and then put together this new missile with a couple of upgrades and a new paint job."
First produced in 2011, and successfully tested in 2012, the Rubezh is a 36,000 kilogram, nuclear-capable, intermediate-range ballistic missile with a known range of 5,800 kilometers.
The Kyiv IndependentFrancis Farrell