Russian State Duma defense committee member Viktor Sobolev has called statements by Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) head Vasyl Malyuk about destroying an Oreshnik missile on Russian territory a fake.
Sobolev reacted after Malyuk told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that Ukrainian special services destroyed one of the Oreshnik ICBMs in 2023. The SBU head said the operation took place on the Kapustin Yar training ground in Astrakhan region destroying the missile completely.
“I think this is fake, disinformation and an attempt by Zelenskiy and his junta to cling to power by ensuring Europe continues to finance the Armed Forces of Ukraine. That’s all — you can only interpret it that way,” Viktor Sobolev told Podyom publication.
Accusation links Kyiv’s reports to classic propaganda techniques
Sobolev added that Kyiv bases such messages on the propaganda principles formulated by German politician Joseph Goebbels, dismissing the Kyiv account as an effort to manipulate Western audiences. The Russian side has not independently confirmed the SBU’s claim.
Earlier, Malyuk asserted that Ukrainian special services destroyed an Oreshnik missile at the Kapustin Yar range in the summer of 2023 and described the strike as “one hundred percent” successful.
Belarus President Lukashenko: We Can Strike!
Russian President Vladimir Putin first announced tests of the new medium-range ballistic missile Oreshnik in November 2024, after an attack on the Dnipro.
On October 31, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko warned that Belarus could use the Oreshnik system, saying he and Putin could “decide and strike” if the West pushed too far.
“I want them (Western countries) to understand that we can strike if things go badly. We will sit down with [President Vladimir] Putin, make a decision and strike. So don’t provoke us,” Alexander Lukashenko said, according to BelTA.
At present, Russian official channels have not provided confirmation of the SBU’s account, and the accusation-exchange illustrates the ongoing information war surrounding weapons development and cross-border operations.
