Moscow tries to intimidate the West by creating the myth of the invincible Oreshnik missile
Russia is conducting a propaganda campaign related to the development of the Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile, emphasising the missile’s striking power and thus seeking to inflate the capabilities of its military industry. At the end of 2024, Russia’s Armed Forces used an intermediate-range ballistic missile for the first time in the war against Ukraine, which Putin described as a completely new hypersonic missile called the Oreshnik.
Russia’s public communication about its development is intended to pressure the West to reduce its support for Ukraine and Kyiv, and to refrain from decisive actions against Russian aggression.
One of the most important elements of the communication about the Oreshnik is a public announcement of Oreshnik deployment in Belarus in December 2025. Russia presents this decision as a response to the US plans to deploy the Typhon ground-based missile system in Germany on an episodic basis from 2026. However, the deployment of the Oreshnik in Belarus will not significantly impact the security of Lithuania, as the missile range is already sufficient to reach targets in our region from Russian territory.
The Oreshnik missile complex deployed in Belarus belongs to Russia’s strategic missile forces, so Russia will retain full control over it and gain another lever in its relations with Minsk.
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