The investigator assured that kyiv would give “subsequent answers” on the precise characteristics of the missile presented (illustrative image).Keystone
Ukrainian secret services reveal fragments of a mysterious Russian missile, the “Orechnik”, recently presented by Vladimir Putin.
24.11.2024, 14:5724.11.2024, 14:58
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The Ukrainian secret service (SBU) on Sunday showed a small group of journalists, including AFP, the fragments of a new Russian ballistic missile, identified Thursday by Russian President Vladimir Putin as “Orechnik”, a previously unknown weapon which he said struck an arms factory in Dnipro.
A few hours after this shot presented by the Kremlin as a “signal” to the West and to kyiv, Vladimir Putin boasted of the success of the Russian strike with a new hypersonic missile, which he had named “Orechnik”.
The Russian army fired this experimental missile in “response”, according to the Kremlin, to recent Ukrainian attacks carried out against Russia with American and British missiles.
On Sunday, the Ukrainian SBU showed a small group of journalists, including AFP, metal debris, more or less large, lined up on a fake grass, coming from a Russian missile fired on Thursday, he said, against the city of Dnipro, where “Orechnik” struck, according to Moscow, the factory of the Ukrainian group PivdenMach, which notably produces components for missiles.
The meeting with the SBU took place in a secret location for security reasons.
On this occasion, the Ukrainian SBU did not wish to publicly confirm that it was debris from “Orechnik” but assured that it was “the first time” that the Ukrainian forces had seen such a projectile since the beginning of the Russian invasion in February 2022.
“This is the first time that debris from such a missile has been found on Ukrainian territory”
An SBU investigator named Oleg
Russia “ready” for “all” scenarios
“This object has never been documented by security investigators before”he further asserted, explaining that it was “a ballistic missile”, which corresponds to “Orechnik”.
The investigator assured that kyiv would give “subsequent answers” on the precise characteristics of the missile presented.
According to Vladimir Putin, who outlined some of the characteristics of “Orechnik” on Thursday evening, this “intermediate range” hypersonic missile can go at speeds of Mach 10, or “2.5 to 3 kilometers per second”.
Friday, during a televised meeting with military officials, the master of the Kremlin assured that Moscow had a stockpile of these “ready-made” missiles.
He also ordered its mass production and subsequent use in tests, notably “in combat situations”, after announcing on Thursday that Russia was “ready” for “all” scenarios in its conflict against Ukraine and the West. (chl/ats)
