Putin praises his “new” missile used in Ukraine, but how realistic is it?
Photo: The flags of Finland and Ukraine fly in front of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs' Merikasarmi building / Twitter (prohibited in Russia)
An important function of missiles is deterrence, and Russia tends to describe its strike capability in at least an optimistic way, writes HS foreign correspondent Mikko Paakkanen.
Russia’s Thursday morning strike on Ukraine’s Dnipro with a medium-range ballistic missile provided Russian leader Vladimir Putin with an opportunity to promote his country’s missile technology.
After the strike, Putin announced that the strike was carried out with a “completely new type of missile” called the Orešnik. According to Putin, it is not a modernized Soviet missile, but a completely new type of missile, Tass reported.
“We have a stockpile of such products, a stockpile of such systems, ready for use,” Putin said in another Tass article.
Putin ordered the development of a new medium-range missile in July 2023, Russian missile forces commander Sergei Karakayev reported in a third Tass article. Tass and other Russian media outlets published several stories on Friday about the new Orešnik missile, which has now reportedly been put into service.
Despite the statements made by Putin and his commander, it is not certain that the new Orešnik missile exists. It is likely to be a rebranded missile rather than a new missile.
Stefan Forss, an associate professor at the National Defense University, told Yle on Friday that the Dnipro was likely hit with an RS-26 Rubež-type missile or some variant of it.
Sabrina Singh, a spokeswoman for the US Department of Defense, also said on Thursday that it was a medium-range missile based on the RS-26 Rubež missile.
Russia has been developing this missile for at least a dozen years, according to an article published by the Federation of American Scientists think tank in 2015.
For some reason, Russia has now decided to start using the name Orešnik for the RS-26 missile.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin met with military leaders in Moscow on Friday. The meeting discussed the Oreshnik missile launched into Ukraine.
The sudden rebranding of a missile that has been in development for a long time and is apparently still in the testing phase is a propaganda stunt by Russia to underline its missile threat.
Destroyers are not only used to destroy. They are often most useful to their users when they are used only as a threat.
Throughout the war in Ukraine, Russia has reminded them that it has powerful missiles and even nuclear weapons. It has hinted that the war could escalate into a nuclear war if the West supports Ukraine.
The issue most recently came to the fore when Russia updated its nuclear weapons doctrine this week. Russia is trying to scare the West into limiting its support for Ukraine.
The appearance of a missile with a new name in public discourse emphasizes the novelty and modernity of the missile. Modernity is associated with images of technological advancement, and at the same time, fearsomeness, because it is a missile.
Putin has previously presented new weapons whose existence is questionable.
In 2018, he presented the Burevestnik missile. It is said to be a nuclear-powered cruise missile with a nearly unlimited range. Putin described the missile as “invincible,” Reuters reported in September.
However, some of the missile’s claimed features are technically impossible to implement, assessed US researcher Decker Eveleth in Foreign Policy magazine in September.
Five years ago, Jill Hruby, a researcher at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, speculated that Russia would hardly be able to deploy such a missile for at least ten years, if ever.
Still, Russia has a wide variety of operational and destructive missiles. However, when Russia presents them, it is good to keep in mind that talking about missiles can be one way to use them.
Source: Helsingin Sanomat
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