NATO and Ukraine will hold urgent talks amid fears Russia will escalate tensions

Russian President Vladimir Putin It was announced earlier this week that a mysterious new medium-range ballistic missile (IRBM) had been tested in a strike. Ukrainian Defense analysts have warned this could pose a significant threat.

Putin said the name of the missile was “Oreshnik”, which means Hazel Tree.

The missile was used on Thursday to hit a military facility in Dnipro, a central city with a population of about one million.

Local authorities said that many houses as well as a rehabilitation center for the disabled were damaged in the attack, but there were no deaths.

Putin described the IRBM as a hypersonic ballistic missile that can travel 10 times faster than sound.

Reports say Oreshnik has a range of 5,000 km (about 3,100 miles) and is designed to be difficult to stop.

The U.S. Department of Defense said the missile fired by Russia was based on the RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which can carry an 800-kg nuclear warhead and has a range of 2,000 to 5,800 km (about 1,200 miles to 3,600 miles). shaft).

Oreshnik appears to have multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), which are warheads that detach from the missile, allowing operators to increase the amount of destructive power of each missile.

There is USA “De-MIRVed” deployed ICBMs Switching to a single warhead to comply with New Start, a nuclear arms reduction agreement with Russia. However, Russia continues to develop ICBMs with MIRV technology.

James Bosbotinis, an expert on defense and international relations, said that if Oreshnik was equipped with MIRV technology or maneuvering vehicles (MARV) that enable precision strikes, “this would pose a significant threat to both civilian and military targets.”

“Oreshnik will be a dual-capable system with nuclear and conventional weapons,” he said. I.

Read more about the Oreshnik missile from Taz Ali Here.