What is the Oreshnik ballistic missile launched by Russia into Ukraine?

2026-01-09 21:05:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Russia launched an Oreshnik missile into Ukraine on Friday night for the second time since the start of the full-scale war in 2022, in an attack that Kiev and its allies say was intended as a warning to the West.

While Russian defense officials did not say where Oreshnik was hit this time, Ukrainian authorities reported on Friday several explosions and a ballistic missile attack in the western city of Lviv.

The first use of the new weapon – which can carry nuclear or conventional warheads – was to target a seemingly empty factory on the Dnieper in late November 2024.

What is Oreshnik?

It is likely to be an intermediate-range ballistic missile, with its use so far indicating a range of 600 to 1,000 miles. US defense officials considered the Oreshnik launched in November 2024 to be an “intermediate-range ballistic missile,” or IRBM, suggesting they thought its actual range could be over 3,000 miles.

The distance from Kapustin Yar, the Russian base from which it is thought to have been fired, to Lviv, its target this week, is about 900 miles.

A distinctive feature of the Oreshnik is its ability to launch multiple nuclear warheads at high speed from the main missile. Up to six independently targetable multiple reentry vehicles (MIRVs), which themselves can contain four to six munitions, are separated from the missile as it travels at hypersonic speeds; each can be directed at specific targets, allowing a ballistic missile to launch a larger attack.

Where does her name come from?

Oreshnik means “Hazelnut Tree,” based on its appearance when its numerous nuclear warheads fall to the ground in the form of fiery beams of light. Ukrainians called the first one fired “Kedr,” Cedar.

US officials have suggested that it could be an evolution, or a basic copy, of the RS-26 Rubezh missile, first developed in 2008.

Russia and the United States are at odds over renewing the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which aims to completely ban nuclear-capable IRBMs and reduce the threat of nuclear-capable missiles to the European continent. The United States formally withdrew from the treaty in 2019./CNA , translated by CNN