Russia could strike Ukraine “in the coming days” with, once again, its latest generation Orechnik missile, supersonic and designed to carry nuclear warheads, a senior American official said on Wednesday.
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“Russia has signaled its intention to fire a new experimental Orechnik missile at Ukraine, potentially in the coming days,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
“But this missile is not likely to reverse the dynamic on the battlefield, it seeks to intimidate Ukraine and its allies,” added this American source. “The Orechnik, with its smaller warhead and limited availability, is unlikely to change the course of the conflict,” she said.
Another US official also sought to moderate the concern, saying that “Russia probably has only a handful of these experimental missiles.”
The weapon, capable of striking targets several thousand kilometers away with nuclear warheads, was used for the first time with conventional warheads on November 21 against the city of Dnipro in east-central Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin presented the unprecedented shot as a response to recent Ukrainian attacks against Russia with American and British missiles, and especially threatened to strike “decision centers” in kyiv, which houses the Ukrainian government.
Last Friday, he even raised the possibility of deploying his Orechnik missile next year in Belarus, his closest ally, whose border with Ukraine is located 100 kilometers from kyiv.
In Ukraine, this new weapon has caused fear among residents, pushing some to once again seek shelter in shelters in the event of an anti-aircraft alarm.
