Russia public on Tuesday a video of what he said was deployment of are hypersonic missile system Oreshnik with nuclear capacity in its close ally Belarusa measure designed to increase Moscow’s ability to attack targets throughout Europe in case of a war.
State news agency TASS said it was the first time the Defense Ministry showed off the mobile missile systems. Oreshnikwhich President Vladimir Putin declared impossible to intercept because the speed of the missiles is reportedly more than 10 times the speed of sound.
The deployment and Moscow’s announcement that the missiles have entered active service in a country bordering Ukraine and NATO members Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, comes at a time of rising tensions between East and West over the Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The move would allow Russian nuclear missiles to reach European targets a little faster in any war.
Confidence in the face of threat
Some Western experts have said that the development underlines the Kremlin’s increasing dependence on the threat of nuclear weapons as it attempts to deter NATO members from supplying to Ukraine weapons that can attack the interior of Russia.
Two American researchers stated that, according to their study of satellite images, Moscow I’m probably parking missiles and their mobile launchers in a former air base in eastern Belarus.
A video posted Tuesday by the ministries defense from Russia and Belarus He did not reveal the location of the missile systems. However, the images They showed mobile launchers and their crews circulating along forest roads, and specialized troops camouflaging the systems with nets.
It was shown at a high russian officer telling the troops that the systems had been officially placed on combat duty and, as a light snow fell in the background, discussing the regular training and reconnaissance routines for missile crews.
Moscow tested an Oreshnik (hazelnut in Russian) conventional attack against a target in Ukraine in November 2024.
Putin has declared that the destructive power of Oreshnik is comparable to that of a nuclear weapon, even equipped with a conventional warhead. The intermediate missiles have a range of up to 5,500 km (3,415 miles), which would allow them to strike anywhere in Europe or the western United States from Russia.
Skepticism
Some Western officials have expressed skepticism about the capabilities of the Oreshnik. A US official stated in December 2024 that the weapon was not considered a game-changer on the battlefield.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a loyal ally of Putin who has also started talks with the administration of US President Donald Trump, had already announced the installation of the missiles.
He said no more than a dozen “Oreshniks“, a move his defense minister said was necessary because of what he called aggressive moves by Western opponents.
Lukashenko allowed Russian troops to use his country to enter Ukraine in February 2022, but has not deployed Belarusian troops to fight alongside Moscow’s forces in Ukraine.