Russia's Orezhnik missile: Empty threat with no explosives

Let us recall that the Orezhnik missile hit the Dnipro on November 21. Today, it is known that Russia's new ballistic missile, which the aggressor used to scare the world, had multiple warheads but did not contain explosives. As a result, the missile caused little damage.

The statements of Ukrainian officials confirm the Kremlin's description, which indicates that the weapon's use was meant to serve as a warning to the West in light of lifted restrictions on the capability to conduct attacks deep within the territory of the Russian Federation (with ATACMS missiles).

The informants cited by Reuters indicate that what is known today about the Orezhnik is that it is long-range ammunition designed primarily for nuclear attacks on targets thousands of miles away. “In this case, (the missile) was without explosives...There were no types of explosions like we expected. There was something, but it was not huge," one of the informants told Reuters.

The specifications of the Orezhnik remain shrouded in mystery to this day. Some sources suggest that the missile might have been based on the RS-26 Rubezh missile, but there is still no evidence to confirm this theory. The difficulties in determining the specification also pertain to the aforementioned RS-26 system, which is also kept secret by the Russians, and there is a lack of specific documentation related to its specifications in the public domain.

Experts, however, point out that among the available information about the RS-26, the most credible detail is the launch weight, which is between 44 and 55 tons. According to reports, the range of this missile may be up to 3,728 miles, and it is ordinarily equipped with four separate warheads, each with a yield of 0.3 Mt.