On November 21st, the Russian military launched a large-scale missile attack on the city of Dnipro in Ukraine, which included a ballistic missile that sparked concerns from various parties. The Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian Air Force claimed that the missile launched by the Russian military was an intercontinental ballistic missile, while the Russian government and Western countries referred to it as a medium-range ballistic missile or a hypersonic missile.
Initially, it was believed that the Russian military had launched an RS-26 “Rubezh” medium-range ballistic missile. However, Russian President Putin confirmed during a television address on the 21st that it was in fact an “Oreshnik” hypersonic medium-range ballistic missile, with a speed capable of reaching 10 Mach and carrying a conventional warhead. This was the first time that the outside world had heard of the name “Oreshnik” missile, and there is currently no public information available about it.
The Oreshnik missile is considered a developmental model of the RS-26 “Rubezh” missile, designed as a nuclear weapon delivery vehicle without conventional warheads. In this attack, only six simulated nuclear warheads and decoy warheads were installed, aimed at showcasing strength to Ukraine and its supporters rather than achieving any actual military gains.
The wreckage of the Oreshnik missile found in the city of Dnipro is judged to have shared technology with the “Yars” and “Alyaska-M” two intercontinental ballistic missiles. The Pentagon also confirmed that the Oreshnik missile is derived from the RS-26.
In addition, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s intelligence agency, HUR, released some data on the Oreshnik missile on Friday. “This Russian missile was launched from the Astrakhan region of the Russian Federation until it hit Dnipro, with a flight time of 15 minutes. The missile was loaded with six warheads, each warhead containing six sub-warheads. The speed in the final stage of the flight exceeded 11 Mach.”
The straight-line distance from Astrakhan to Dnipro is less than 700 kilometers. If calculated based on this flight time, the average speed of the Oreshnik missile is just over 2 Mach. However, with the final stage speed exceeding 11 Mach, it is likely that it has the ability to accelerate in the final stage.
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