Ukrainian special forces destroyed one of Oreshnik missiles on Russian soil in 2024
Ukraine's special services destroyed one of Russia's Oreshnik missiles on its own territory at the Kapustin Yar range in Astrakhan Oblast last summer, Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) head Vasyl Maliuk told President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a meeting broadcast by Suspilne on Friday.
The operation involved the SBU, Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate (DIU) and Foreign Intelligence Service.
Zelenskyy said Russians had three potential shots overall, using one — likely the November 2024 strike on the city of Dnipro.
"Russians want to deploy 'Oreshnik' in Belarus. That's up to 5,000 kilometers range and a 700-kilometer dead zone. Our European partners should pay attention," he said.
Foreign Intelligence Service head Oleh Ivashchenko added that Russia can now produce up to six Oreshnik missiles annually.
Ukrainian intelligence previously explained that "Oreshnik" is the name of a Russian R&D project; the system is actually called "Kedr." It is a nuclear weapon carrier, but Russians used a "non-nuclear variant" for the Dnipro strike.
As of October, Defense Intelligence said Russians had made two prototypes, with no serial production.
Afterward, Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened further Oreshnik strikes on Ukraine, claiming no global analogs exist or will soon, and that Russia has "several more systems ready for use similar to Oreshnik."