Russia fires Oreshnik missile at Ukraine: What’s special about the rare weapon that flies at 13,600 kmph and why Putin is using it now

Russia said on Friday it fired an Oreshnik missile at Ukraine, marking only the second known use of this rare weapon in the war. Moscow said the strike targeted critical infrastructure, though Ukraine has not confirmed the scale of damage. If the missile carried explosive warheads, it would be the first time Russia has used the Oreshnik with full destructive intent, taking the conflict into a new phase.

The development has drawn attention because of the missile’s speed, range and the political timing of its use, as diplomatic efforts to end the war remain stalled.

What is the Oreshnik?

The Oreshnik, which means Hazel Tree, is an intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile. Russia used it once before against Ukraine in November 2024, but that strike involved only dummy warheads and caused limited damage, according to Ukrainian sources. That earlier launch was widely seen as a test rather than a combat deployment.


This time, Russia said the missile was used in an overnight attack on Ukrainian territory. While Moscow described the target as critical infrastructure, details about the impact were not immediately clear.

What is special about the Oreshnik missile?

Experts say the key feature of the Oreshnik is its ability to carry multiple warheads that can hit different targets at the same time. This capability is usually associated with much longer-range intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs.

The missile is based on the RS-26 Rubezh, which Russia originally developed as an intercontinental system. Like many Russian weapons, the Oreshnik can carry both nuclear and conventional warheads. There was no indication that the latest strike involved any nuclear component.

Ukraine said the missile fired in 2024 took around 15 minutes to reach its target after launch from southern Russia and reached a speed of about 13,600 kilometres per hour.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed that the Oreshnik is impossible to intercept and that it has destructive power comparable to that of a nuclear weapon, even when fitted with a conventional warhead. Some Western experts have questioned those claims. In December 2024, a U.S. official said the missile was not a game-changer on the battlefield, calling it experimental and suggesting Russia had only a limited number.

Since 2024, Russia has moved the Oreshnik into serial production and has also supplied it to its ally Belarus.

Why is Russia using Oreshnik missile now?

The Russian military said it fired the Oreshnik in response to what it described as an attempted Ukrainian drone attack late last year on one of Putin’s residences in Novgorod, northern Russia. Ukraine rejected that claim and said no such attack took place.

Putin had earlier warned that Russia could use the Oreshnik, including against "decision-making centres" in Kyiv, if Ukraine continued to strike Russian territory with long-range Western weapons. Until now, Russia had not acted on that threat.

The latest attack targeted Ukraine’s Lviv region in the west of the country, close to the border with NATO member Poland. Ukraine’s foreign minister described the strike as a "global threat" that required a global response.

The escalation comes at a sensitive moment, as U.S. President Donald Trump is struggling to persuade both Russia and Ukraine to agree to a peace deal to end the war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.