Russia will keep testing new ‘Oreshnik’ missile, says Putin

CNN
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President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia will continue to test and begin mass-producing the hypersonic ballistic missile it fired at Ukraine on Thursday.

The experimental strike on Thursday marked a defining moment in Moscow’s war and ended a dramatic week has changed the conflict. The launch of the missile came after the White House authorized Ukraine to launch its long-range missiles into Russia.

In a televised meeting with the leadership of Russia’s Defense Ministry, Putin claimed that the missile could not be intercepted by air defenses and said that Russia will begin serial production of the new weapon.

“There are currently no means to counter such a missile, no means to intercept it in the world. And I want to emphasize once again: We will continue to test the latest system,” Putin said.

Putin added Russia was developing “several similar systems” for further testing.

“Based on the test results, these weapons will also go into production. That is, we are developing a whole series of medium- and short-range systems,” he said.

Putin’s comments come a day after Russia fired the “Oreshnik” missile – which contains multiple warheads – at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack, saying in a video posted on Telegram that “today our crazy neighbor has again shown who he really is and how he despises dignity, freedom and human life in general.”

Zelensky said Friday that Ukraine was holding meetings with its allies to develop “new air defense systems” in response to the new threat from Russia.

Two US officials and one Western official told CNN that the “experimental” ballistic missile carried multiple warheads, in what may be the first time such a weapon has been used in war.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a key ally of Ukraine, said the conflict was entering a decisive phase.

NATO and Ukraine are to hold talks next week after Russia’s launch of experimental missile.