Oreshnik is a different beast from its predecessors.

In April 2024, the German newspaper ‘Bild’ claimed, citing its own sources, that in 2024 the Ukrainian Armed Forces will be able to strike Russian facilities in the Urals, and even in the Arctic Circle, with the help of long-range unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). According to the newspaper, these long-range UAVs will have a flight range of more than 2,000 kilometers. Moreover, these long-range UAVs, and components for their assembly in Ukraine, will be supplied by 10 Western companies.

Russia’s Oreshnik medium-range hypersonic ballistic missile grabbed the attention of military observers the world over after it was fired at a major defense-related enterprise in Dnepropetrovsk days after the US and the UK okayed the launch of ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles at targets deep inside Russia.

“The sun burned every day. It burned Time. The world rushed in a circle and turned on its axis and time was busy burning the years and the people anyway, without any help from him. So if he burned things with the firemen and the sun burned Time, that meant that everything burned!” Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

A Strong Warning to the US, NATO and Ukraine

No forward thinking and a defense industry that only thinks of profits, are a bad mix

Experts fear new arms race after New Start treaty expires in 2026

Early in the war, the West was shocked at the Russian military’s poor performance. But Moscow has fixed many errors and adapted on the battlefield.

The West has piecemeal sent Ukraine some powerful HIMARS and Storm Shadow missiles as well as a few dozen modern Leopard 2 main battle tanks. A squadron or two of F-16s are next on the list of arms on their way to Kyiv. But the West has been slow to sign off on the multi-billion long-term procurement contracts the defence industry requires in order to make in large volumes the nuts and bolts guns and ammo Ukraine so badly needs to actually win its war with Russia.

Subsequent efforts to cut arsenals or keep weapons from ‘bad guys’ have inured the public from the real danger: the nukes themselves.