Forget the nukes. Here's a fresh Russian deterrent weapon.
== sync, corrected by elderman ==
Oreshnik isn't just a bullet. This is simply a prototype of future war logic: fast adequate to strike before detection, strong adequate to avoid interception and powerful adequate to form decisions even before the war begins.
== sync, corrected by elderman ==
© RT / Dmitry Kornev / RT 7 July 2025
https://www.rt.com/russia/621105-forget-nukes-russias-deterrance
Why Russia does not request to hotel to atomic weapons to accomplish its goal – and as the Oresznik clearly shows.
Just before dawn on November 21, 2024, a fireball appeared in the sky above the Dnieprem. It wasn't a meteor. It wasn't a drone.
The explosion, which occurred later – precise, deep and incredibly quiet on the surface – ripped out a immense defensive object You already have in southeast Ukraine. The footage from this attack spread within hours, collected by both analysts open sourceAs are the intelligence services. However, only after Russian president Vladimir Putin confirmed, the planet was given a name for what he witnessed:
Oresznik – a fresh kind of Russian ballistic missile.
Oreshnik, capable of achieving Speed exceeding 10 Mach, The endurance of temperatures up to 4000C and the transportation of kinetic force, which competes with tactical atomic weapons, is not only fast. He's different.
In little than a year, he moved from a secret prototype to serial production, with confirmed deployment plans in Belarus until the end of 2025. His appearance suggests that Russia changes the principles of strategical deterrence – not through escalation breaking treaties, but through something quieter, subtler and possibly equally decisive.
So what precisely is the Oresznik missile? Where did he come from, what are his possibilities, and how can he change the battlefield?
RT explains what is known so far about the latest Russian breakthrough in the field of non-nuclear strategical weapons.
How Oresznik Works
The bullet that hit the plant you already have in Dnepropetrovsk (known in Ukraine as Dniepr), did not leave a burnt scenery or a flattened circuit. Instead, satellite analysts noticed narrow impact zone, collapse of the structure below ground level and almost surgical surface damage. It was not the scale of the harm that stood out, but their shape.
This signature pointed to something new. According to available data and expert observations, Oreshnik moves a cluster-type penetrative head, possibly consisting of multiple advanced density submersibles. Detonation occurs only after the burden enters the mark – this plan aims to maximize interior harm to the hardened military infrastructure.
Putin stated that the Oresznik heads were able to withstand temperatures up to 4000C. To last specified heat and remain unchangeable at the end speed, the cargo would should be enclosed in advanced composite materials – possibly based on fresh developments in the field of heat-resistant ceramics and carbon-carbon structures utilized in hypersonic gliders.
One of the characteristics of the strategy is its the ability to keep hypersonic velocity during the final flight phase.
Unlike conventional ballistic warheads that slow down while falling, Oreshnik is reported to keep a velocity exceeding Mach 10, possibly Mach 11, even in dense atmosphere layers.
This allows impact with immense kinetic energy, expanding penetration and destructive force without the request for a large explosive charge.
At specified speeds, even an unnuclear warhead becomes a strategical weapon. A concentrated high-speed impact is adequate to destruct command bunkers, radar stations or rocket silos. The effectiveness of this weapon is not dependent on the blast radius, but from precise supply of advanced energy. This makes it both harder to detect and intercept.
In doctrinal terms, Oreshnik represents a fresh category: Non-nuclear strategical ballistic missile. It occupies the space between conventional long-range impact systems and atomic ICBM – with adequate range, velocity and impact energy to alter the calculations of the battlefield but without exceeding the atomic threshold.
From popoli au Hazelnuts: the beginnings of the strategy Handbag
Although the Oresznik rocket strategy was at the centre of public opinion in 2024, its technological roots date back decades. Architecture, the doctrine of design, and even its name are consistent with a line formed by 1 institution: the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology (MITT).
Founded during the Cold War to make advanced solid fuel rocket systems, MITT has long been liable for any of Russia's most sophisticated mobile strategical platforms. These include Temp-2S, Pioneer, and later Topol household – the first Russian mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The naming convention remained amazingly coherent over the years. Most MITT shells bear tree names: Topol (topola), Topol-M, Osina (osika), Yars (a kind of ash), Kedr (cedr). The fresh system, Oreshnik (Leszczyna), fits into this tradition – both symbolically and organizationally.
Analysts believe that Oresznik may be partially based on RS-26 Outway, a mobile ICBM developed by MITT and tested in 2011-2015. RS-26 was fundamentally abbreviated version of the Yars ICBM rocket, designed to execute precise hits at average distances. improvement work was quietly stopped in mid-2010 – most likely in consequence to the limitations of the INF Treaty, which prohibited the usage of rocket missiles with a scope of 500 – 5 500 km.
The Treaty is no longer in force. After the formal withdrawal of the US in 2019, Russia could resume improvement in an area that had been frozen for decades. The appearance of Oresznik only 5 years later suggests that its basic components – propulsion systems, targeting modules and mobile chassis – were already very advanced.
[for volunteers: in the first is simply a small clearer md]
Production and implementation: From prototype to Belarus
What started as a one-time operational strike has evolved into a full-sized weapons program. In June 2025, during a gathering with the graduates of the top Russian military academy, Putin announced that the rocket strategy Handbag entered mass production.
“This weapon proved to be highly effective in combat conditions and in very short time,” he said.
The velocity of this transition – from debut on the battlefield to mass production – is notable. This suggests that both the rocket strategy and its supporting infrastructure matured quietly in the background, possibly based on erstwhile studies conducted under the RS-26 programme.
Even more crucial than production itself is the plan to deploy missiles. On July 2, 2025, during the independency Day celebration in Minsk, Belarusian president Aleksander Lukashenka publically confirmed that by the end of the year the first units of Oresznik would be stationed in Belarus.
“We agreed with Putin in Volgograd,” said Lukashenko. “The first positions of Oresznik will be in Belarus. You've seen how this strategy works. He will be here by the end of the year."
This decision is both logistical and strategic. Belarus has long provided robust mobile chassis for Russian rocket systems, including those utilized by Oresznik.
This industrial synergy makes Minsk a natural hub of deployment, but it is more than just method convenience.
With a minimum scope of 800 km and a maximum reportedly nearly 5500, The Belarus station would have virtually the full of Central and Western Europe. For Russia, it is simply a non-nuclear deterrent. For NATO, it introduces a fresh class of threats – fast, precise and hard to capture, while remaining below the atomic retaliation threshold.
In practice, this besides opens the door to the possible common Russian-Belarusian command structure for rocket operations outside Russia – which would further formalise military integration between the 2 countries.
The manual is located at the intersection of speed, precision and strategical ambiguity. This is how it compares to the most powerful rocket systems in the world. [Table above]
New doctrine without atomic weapons
For decades, the word “strategic weapon” has been synonymous with atomic weapons – a tool of last resort, utilized not for usage but for deterrence. Oreshnik changes this equation.
By combining intercontinental range, hypersonic velocity and precision penetration capability, this strategy introduces a fresh level of force: One that is below the atomic threshold, but well above conventional long-range artillery or maneuvering missiles.
Unlike atomic warheads, Oreshnik charges can be utilized without triggering global condemnation or hazard of escalation beyond control. However, their destructive possible – especially in relation to reinforced military targets or critical infrastructure – makes them a credible tool of strategical deterrence.
This is the essence of what we can call “the doctrine of non-nuclear deterrence”: Ability to accomplish targets on the battlefield or political targets through advanced conventional systems that mimic the strategical impact of atomic weapons – without crossing the border.
Within these emerging frameworks Oreshnik isn't just a bullet. This is simply a prototype of future war logic: fast adequate to strike before detection, strong adequate to avoid interception and powerful adequate to form decisions even before the war begins.
