what we know about the Orechnik missile

Recap Called “Orechnik”, this new missile without a nuclear warhead struck Ukrainian territory on Thursday. kyiv accused Moscow of having used an intercontinental missile, which would have been a first in history.

We know a little more about the nature of the missile fired by Russia on Ukraine this Thursday, November 21. In a surprise speech to the Russian nation, Vladimir Putin said his forces had struck Ukraine with a new medium-range ballistic missile, following a strike on the city of Dnipro which did not carry a nuclear warhead. In an address to the Russian nation, he added that the conflict in Ukraine had taken a “global character”. “Our engineers called it “Orechnik””declared Vladimir Putin. According to him, this strike targeted “a site of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex”.

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Earlier in the day, Ukraine had accused Russia of having fired an intercontinental missile against its territory, which would be a first use of this type of weapon in conflict in History and which, even without a nuclear charge, would constitute an unprecedented escalation of the war and Russian-Western tensions.

“An intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from the Russian region of Astrakhan”the Air Force said in a statement. “It’s the first time. We've never had this kind of missile before.”a source within this army told AFP. These types of missiles are designed to carry nuclear warheads and strike from thousands of kilometers away. The missile did not carry any nuclear warhead, a source within the Ukrainian air force told AFP, given the limited extent of the damage.

Western countries concerned

Earlier today, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer already spoke of “a ballistic missile with a range of several thousand kilometers » used for “the first time” a Ukraine. “This is obviously very worrying, and constitutes another example of Russia’s irresponsible behavior, which only strengthens our resolve to support Ukraine for as long as necessary”he added, without specifying whether it was a missile « intercontinental » as claimed by kyiv.

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More cautiously, the spokesperson for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Christophe Lemoine, affirmed that it was an event “extremely serious” if it was proven that it was indeed an intercontinental missile.

“Inconsistency between probable missile range and target distance”

As its name suggests, an intercontinental missile (ICBM) can strike one continent from another. Technically, according to international treaties, this means it has a range greater than 5,500 kilometers.

An intermediate-range missile (IRBM) has a range of 3,000 to 5,500. As for the term “ballistic”it designates a self-propelled and guided projectile, whose trajectory depends on gravity and its speed.

On this type of range, this trajectory theoretically passes through space. Russia and the United States developed the first ones at the end of the 1950s to carry a nuclear charge. But in this case, the missile used by Moscow did not carry a nuclear charge or, according to experts, no charge at all. “What is interesting is the inconsistency between the probable range of the missile and the distance to the target”explains Héloïse Fayet, of the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri), to AFP.

“This will not change the situation in the conflict” assures Washington

Shortly before Vladimir Putin's speech, the United States was already talking about a “medium-range experimental ballistic missile” on Ukraine, not an intercontinental missile. Moscow “seeks to intimidate Ukraine and the countries that support it by using this weapon, or to attract attention, but this will not change the situation in this conflict”said a senior American official in a statement sent to AFP.

According to the latter, who requested anonymity, Russia “probably only has a handful of these experimental missiles” and Ukraine “withstood countless Russian attacks, including those carried out with missiles with significantly more powerful warheads”.

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The United States had, according to him, “informed Ukraine and close partners and allies in recent days” on the possible use of this missile by the Russians, in order to help them get there ” prepare “. Washington “will continue to increase military aid to Ukraine”promised the senior official again.

Outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden seems determined to use the time remaining before Donald Trump takes power on January 20 to boost assistance to Ukraine. He decided to supply antipersonnel mines to the Ukrainian army to stop Russian advances, and authorized Ukraine to strike Russian territory with long-range missiles supplied by the United States, which constitutes a major strategic shift.