On Sunday, November 24, Ukrainian authorities displayed the wreckage of a new Russian experimental ballistic missile that had attacked a factory in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro last Thursday.
Only a small group of journalists were allowed to enter the missile wreckage site. For security reasons, the journalists were asked not to disclose the exact location of the site. According to Reuters, Ukrainian investigators are studying the missile.
The charred and shattered debris was placed in a facility for weapon identification. Ukrainian experts hope to gain a deeper understanding of Russia’s military supply chain, production situation, and how to develop countermeasures through these fragments.
Russia calls this missile the “Hazelnut Tree” missile and claims that it cannot be intercepted by anti-aircraft systems.
Ukraine stated that this weapon reached speeds of over 13,000 kilometers per hour (8,000 miles per hour) while flying to Dnipro last Thursday, nearly hitting Mach 11.
The estimated range of this medium-range ballistic missile is up to 5,500 kilometers.
Ukrainian intelligence units stated that the missile was launched from the Kapustin Yar test site in Astrakhan, Russia, and flew for 15 minutes before hitting Dnipro.
This missile has six warheads, each of which can carry six submunitions.
Ukrainian weapons experts noted that the current understanding of this missile is only preliminary. To draw more specific conclusions, more time is needed for a detailed study of the missile wreckage.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy believes that the use of such weapons constitutes a serious escalation and urges allied nations to respond. Initially, Ukraine thought that the weapon appeared to be an intercontinental ballistic missile.
The Kremlin later stated that it launched a new medium-range missile at a military target in Dnipro in response to the U.S. approving Ukrainian use of missiles manufactured in the U.S. and UK to strike Russia.
The U.S. military believes that the missile’s design is based on the longer-range RS-26 “Rubezh” intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). They consider this to be an “experimental” new missile type, with Russia not possessing many of them.
Last Friday, Russian President Putin announced that Moscow would continue to test this missile in real combat and claimed to have a batch of the same missiles ready.
Many aspects remain uncertain, including the extent of the damage caused by the missile. Ukraine rarely discloses the damage to military targets, fearing that such information could aid Russian invasion.