Putin: Several Oreshnik missiles will strike Ukraine like nuclear blow

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Russian Defense Ministry, together with the General Staff of the Armed Forces, was selecting suitable targets in Ukraine for another attack with the use of Oreshnik medium-range ballistic missile. Several Oreshnik complexes are already ready for use.

Photo: en.kremlin.ru by Администрация президента России, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation

According to Putin, the Russian forces may strike military facilities, defense industry enterprises, or decision-making centers in Kyiv.

Russia may indeed strike decision-making centers in Kyiv against the background of Ukraine's attempts to attack facilities of national importance in Russia. The Ukrainian forces intended to attack facilities in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Putin said.

Massive Oreshnik strike will be similar to nuclear attack

The Russian president pointed out that the massive launch of several Oreshnik missiles would be comparable to the power of a nuclear strike. This judgment, Putin noted, is based on the assessments of military and technical specialists. The state-of-the-art hypersonic missile system is not a weapon of mass destruction, Putin added.

"In case of a massive, group use, (…) in a cluster, in one strike, the power [of the Oreshnik] will be comparable to the use of nuclear weapons," Vladimir Putin said.

According to the Russian leader, the Oreshnik is capable of striking well-protected objects located at large depths. At the same time, everything that is located in the epicenter of the explosion gets divided into elementary particles, and in fact, turns into dust, Putin added.

Igor Korotchenko, editor-in-chief of the National Defense Magazine, earlier admitted that Moscow could hit decision-making centers in Kyiv after US President Joe Biden authorised Ukraine to use ATACMS long-range missiles for strikes deep into Russia.

"This means that on the eve of winter, all key and other energy infrastructure facilities of Ukraine will be destroyed completely," Korotchenko said.