Russia’s Oreshnik missile system to enter service this year – Putin
Russia’s newly developed medium-range Oreshnik missile system will enter combat before the end of the year, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday during a keynote speech to the Defense Ministry.
The Russian leader was reporting military achievements over the year and outlined policy goals, including military research. He named Oreshnik alongside other weapons meant to “ensure the strategic parity, security and global positions of Russia for decades to come.”
The other systems he mentioned are the unlimited-range cruise missile Burevestnik and the underwater Poseidon drone, both powered by miniaturized nuclear reactors, which he said reached development milestones this year.
”We will keep working on those systems. Tune them and improve them, but we already have them,” Putin stressed.
Moscow revealed the Oreshnik system with a strike on a weapons plant in Ukraine in November 2024, which it described as a successful “combat test.” The missile is understood to carry multiple nuclear-capable individually targetable warheads.
Putin previously compared the conventional variant used in the Ukraine attack to a low-yield nuclear weapon in terms of destructive power. Russia has since announced plans to deploy some Oreshnik systems in Belarus, its key military ally.
During the meeting, Putin outlined progress in modernizing the Russian army, directed the military to study the experience of the Ukraine conflict in developing new weapons, addressed the issues of medical rehabilitation and the provision of social services to soldiers, and warned Western leaders seeking to escalate tensions that their position is “irresponsible.”
Russia “has been seeking diplomatic resolutions to contradictions and conflicts as long as there is the slimmest hope of success. Those who convinced themselves that Russia can be spoken to in the language of force are fully responsible for those missed opportunities,” Putin stressed.
