The Russian military has reportedly deployed its advanced Oreshnik missile system to Belarus, a move experts warn brings the threat of devastating, rapid strikes against European capitals and NATO targets closer to reality. The Russian Defence Ministry released video footage on Tuesday purporting to show combat vehicles transporting the system at an undisclosed location in Belarus.
A New Hypersonic Threat on NATO's Doorstep
State news agency TASS confirmed this is the first public showing of the Oreshnik system, which President Vladimir Putin has previously declared impossible to intercept due to its staggering reported speeds exceeding Mach 10. The Belarusian Defence Ministry states the missile has a formidable range of up to 3,100 miles.
This range places numerous strategic Western locations within easy striking distance. Reports suggest the Oreshnik could reach London in approximately eight minutes. TASS has boasted the missile could hit an air base in Poland in 11 minutes and NATO's headquarters in Brussels in just 17 minutes.
While the Oreshnik is not an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the continental United States, its deployment significantly alters the security calculus for Europe. Any attack on American allies using this system could directly draw the US into a conflict, raising the stakes dramatically.
Deployment as a 'Message' Amid Stalled Peace Talks
The provocative deployment comes at a critical juncture for the war in Ukraine. Former US President Donald Trump recently hosted Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy, insisting Kyiv and Moscow were "closer than ever before" to a settlement. However, Trump also warned days earlier that the conflict risked spiralling into a third world war.
Russian officials have framed the missile deployment as a direct warning to the West. Andrey Bogodel, a senior Belarusian military academic, told TASS the Oreshnik serves as an "anti-aggression warning." He stated it was a message that Minsk and Moscow would protect their peace, adding, "it's definitely better not to interfere with us."
Bogodel accused Western nations of repeatedly crossing red lines by supplying advanced weaponry like SCALP, Storm Shadow, and ATACMS missiles to Ukraine, and conducting attacks on Russian early-warning systems. "This is all an attempt to see how high Russia’s nuclear threshold is," he claimed.
Technical Capabilities and Strategic Implications
The Oreshnik system was first used in a test strike on a defence plant in Ukraine on 21 November 2024. According to analysis by Dr Matthew Powell of the University of Portsmouth, the missile uses rocket engines to accelerate rapidly to the upper atmosphere before discarding its first-stage boosters.
It then releases Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicles (MIRVs) which travel through space towards their targets. Putin has claimed conventional Oreshnik warheads can generate temperatures near 7,200°F – almost as hot as the sun's surface – though the system is also nuclear-capable.
The system's estimated specifications are formidable:
- Length: 49 to 61 feet
- Diameter: Roughly six feet
- Weight: Between 66,000 and 88,000 pounds (unconfirmed)
- Warhead weight: Up to 1.5 tons (approx. 3,300 pounds)
Putin had promised the Oreshnik would enter combat duty before the end of the year, coupling the announcement with a warning that Moscow would seek further gains in Ukraine if its demands in peace talks were rejected. With key issues like territorial withdrawals and the fate of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant still dividing Moscow and Kyiv, the new missile deployment casts a long shadow over any potential diplomatic breakthrough.
