Putin touts successful missile test amid Ukraine tensions
Russian leader Vladimir Putin, at a meeting with the leadership of the defence ministry, defence industry, and missile forces chiefs, announced the success of the "Oreshnik" missile test, which was launched yesterday at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro.
Many of the reports provided by Russian state media or Kremlin officials are likely untrue. Such reports may be elements of an information war by the Russian Federation.
At the meeting with the defence ministry leadership, the Russian leader stated that the "Oreshnik" is supposedly a new missile, created "recently," and not a modernized version of another missile.
According to Putin, there is "a stockpile of such systems ready for use." At the meeting, the leader announced the full success of the missile test, which was launched on Thursday at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro.
The leader claims that "no one in the world has such weapons" like "Oreshnik," which no air defence system can intercept. Putin announced that the "Oreshnik" has been officially put into military service, and the arms industry has begun its mass production. The missiles are to be delivered to the Strategic Missile Forces.
Present at the meeting, the chief commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, Sergey Karakayev, announced that "Oreshnik" allegedly can target destinations across Europe.
The propagandistic Russian channel Readovka published a graphic on Telegram showing the missile's capabilities.
Russians threaten that an "Oreshnik" launched from the Kaliningrad region would reach Warsaw in 1 minute and 21 seconds. To Berlin in 2 minutes and 35 seconds, Paris in 7 minutes, London in 7 minutes.
The USA knew about Russia's strike
Russia notified the USA shortly before launching the new "experimental" intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) at Dnipro - said Pentagon Deputy Spokesperson Sabrina Singh on Thursday. She also emphasized that Putin's threats against the USA and other countries would not deter America from further assisting Ukraine.
- I can confirm that Russia did launch an experimental intermediate range ballistic missile. This IRBM was based on Russia's RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile model - Singh said during Thursday's press briefing.
She added that the USA was notified by Russia through nuclear risk reduction channels shortly before the missile launch, although she declined to specify when it happened. At the same time, she confirmed that Washington informed Ukraine and allies about the expected attack using an experimental IRBM missile. Sabrina Singh explained that the missile was "experimental" because it was its first use on the battlefield.
