Russia fires hypersonic Oreshnik missile for third time
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- Russia launched its Oreshnik hypersonic missile on May 24, marking the third reported use of the intermediate‑range ballistic weapon in Ukraine since 2024.
- Oreshnik can strike targets 3,000‑5,500 km away at up to Mach 11, with Russian state media claiming it can reach a Polish air base in 11 minutes and NATO headquarters in Brussels in 17 minutes.
- Ukrainian military intelligence says the missile carries six warheads, each with six sub‑munitions, enabling up to 36 separate impacts in a single strike.
- U.S. Department of Defense classifies the Oreshnik as an experimental IRBM derived from the RS‑26 Rubezh ICBM and notes it can be equipped with nuclear warheads.
- Vladimir Putin has described the missile’s destructive power as comparable to a nuclear blast, claiming its temperature could approach that of the sun’s surface.
Why it matters: NATO faces urgent pressure to develop interceptors for a missile that can strike any European city in under 20 minutes and deliver 36 separate warheads, while Ukraine’s civilians remain exposed to unprecedented strike density.
