Oreshnik missiles in Belarus: what has been revealed
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko have discussed the potential sharing of Moscow’s brand-new hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missile system, at talks in Minsk on Friday. Oreshnik is an intermediate-range system, with its missiles capable of carrying kinetic warheads that strike at hypersonic speeds, that is up to mach ten.
After Ukraine launched several attacks deep into Russia using Western-supplied long-range weapons, Moscow retaliated with a strike on a defense facility in Dnepropetrovsk using the Oreshnik medium-range hypersonic missile
Legal basis
During the meeting, the two leaders signed a treaty on mutual security guarantees, which allows both countries to use all forces and means at their disposal. Given this document, Putin stated that the deployment of Oreshnik systems on the territory of Belarus is “possible.”
Time frame for deployment
The president suggested that the missiles could be stationed in Belarus as early as the second half of next year, depending on the rate at which the production of the systems increases as they enter service with Russia’s strategic forces.
Putin stated that Oreshniks will be supplied to both the Russian and Belarusian Armed forces “in parallel” and noted that while they will still be part of Russia’s Strategic Missile Force, it will be up to Minsk to define the targets of these weapons on the territories of a potential enemy.
Technical adjustments
The Russian leader stated that before the Oreshnik hypersonic systems are deployed, a number of technical issues would have to be resolved. In particular, Putin said, specialists will need to determine the minimum range for the use of the Oreshnik, “taking into account the priorities of ensuring the security of Belarus.”
Putin noted that the shorter the distance the missile travels, the greater the power of its warheads.
He added that Belarus already has the capabilities to carry out this work and noted that the deployment of the Oreshnik and the preparation of the necessary infrastructure in Belarus would require “minimal cost.”
Oreshnik’s power
The president recalled that the Oreshnik has “no analogues in the world” and that if the weapon is used in a group strike, its power is similar to that of a nuclear weapon, but without the consequences of radiation.
He also noted that the new hypersonic system is not a weapon of mass destruction. Unlike nuclear weapons, Putin explained, the Oreshnik is a precision weapon and does not strike at areas, but achieves results through accuracy.
Secondly, he explained that in the case of a group strike, involving two or three complexes, the system’s impact force is comparable to an atomic detonation, but does not contaminate the area because the warheads lack a nuclear component.
