Russia is due to move a state-of-the-art ballistic missile that is capable of striking the UK. Vladimir Putin’s ally, the president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, said yesterday that Russia will deploy its Oreshnik missile system – which is capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads – on combat duty to Belarus in December 2025. The intermediate-range ballistic projectile can exceed Mach 10, according to the Ukrainian military, and has a range of up to 5,500 kilometres, the country’s leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, has said.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) highlighted that Kremlin officials claimed as recently as October 29 that Russia and Belarus do not feel “safe” due to European “Russophobic statements”, as well as “supposed militaristic aspirations and hysteria”. Experts added: “ISW continues to assess that Russia is using the Oreshnik as part of a reflexive control campaign and ongoing nuclear saber rattling aimed at undermining Western resolve to militarily support Ukraine.
“Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin announced plans in December 2024 to deploy the Oreshnik missile systems to Belarus in 2025.”
The head of Ukraine’s Security Service, Vasyl Maliuk, noted yesterday that last year, Ukrainian forces destroyed one of the missiles on the ground at a military base inside Russia,
The Oreshnik, which was touted at the end of 2024 by Putin as invulnerable to air defence systems and a game-changing weapon, was hit at the Kapustin Yar military firing range near the Caspian Sea in southwestern Russia, roughly 500 kilometres from the Ukrainian border, Maliuk said.
The Russian president said a year ago that the missile was used in an attack on the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, some months after Maliuk said Ukraine destroyed one of them, PA reports.
Last month, Sir Keir Starmer urged allies to increase Ukraine’s supply of long-range weapons to strike back at Russia.
The Prime Minister hosted leaders, including President Zelensky, in London for talks on how to increase pressure on Moscow and boost Ukraine’s defences.
It came after a successful attack on a chemical plant in Bryansk, Russia, using British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.
The allies also discussed how to protect Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, a key demand by Mr Zelensky ahead of the winter.
