Ukraine Says Oreshnik Missile Is Older Than Moscow Claims

The Oreshnik missile, which Russian President Vladimir Putin has described as a breakthrough weapon, may be considerably older than Moscow claims.

After examining debris from the missile used against Ukraine, Ukrainian experts reported that the specimen analyzed was assembled as early as 2017 from components manufactured no later than 2016.

According to their findings, it contained exclusively Russian and Belarusian components. Kyiv also disputes the portrayal of the Oreshnik as an entirely new system, considering it an upgraded version of the RS-26 Rubezh missile.

Russia has deployed the weapon at least three times during the war, most recently in large-scale attacks in May. Ukrainian officials have noted that the Russian arms industry is increasingly replacing Western electronic components with Chinese ones, a trend they link to restrictions on technology exports to Russia imposed by Western countries following the invasion of Ukraine.

(reuters, mja)