Oreshnik

Oreshnik strike on Yuzhmash, November 21, 2024.

The Oreshnik (hazelnut tree) is a high-precision medium-range hypersonic missile with both nuclear and non-nuclear MaRV (maneuverable reentry vehicle) capabilities delivering 36 warheads. It is believed the reentry vehicles have their own guidance and propulsion system. Oreshnik fly's at speeds of up to Mach 10 (around 7,600 miles/12,200km per hour/3 km per sec.), or ten times the speed of sound. The high velocity makes it virtually impossible to intercept by the most advanced NATO missile defense systems. The missile hits its target at a temperature of 4000 Celsius, turning everything into dust. The weapon produces nuclear-scale destruction without being nuclear - not providing long term radioactive damage to the environment.

According to Military Watch magazine, Russia is capable of producing 25 Oreshnik missiles per month.

Western military exerts conceded after the first combat deployment of the missile on November 21, 2024, that there were no means of counteracting Oreshnik-type complexes in the world. FOX News contributor Gen. Jack Keane is reported to have commented that Oreshnik has "changed the rules of the game." Former National Security Advisor in the First Trump Administration H.R. McMaster stated:

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Probability models show that the THAAD and AEGIS systems are not capable of effectively countering the Oreshnik, and systems that can reliably shoot down the missile will not appear in US service in the next 15 years.

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Combat testing and damage assessment

The Oreshnik missile was first deployed in combat on November 21, 2024, when it struck the Yuzhmash industrial complex occupied by NATO in the city of Dnepropetrovsk. The target was a key defense site inherited by Ukraine from the USSR that produced missile equipment.

According to available information, the first responders found something unusual about the bombing site. Besides the ruins, rubble, and debris everywhere, what leaked from Ukrainian internal communications was that they observed something described as "small volcanoes filled with glowing material." Ukrainian SBU immediately cordoned off the whole area, and access was allowed only to those approved by the authorities. This apparently was to prevent the Russians from damage assessment.

Some sources suggest there were six mini volcanoes with glowing material inside. If there were six areas described as "mini volcanoes" but 36 warhead strikes, the logical question is how could 36 hits cause only six mini volcanos? The explanation may be that six small warheads delivered from one carrier hit the designated area in a pattern that provided a “mutual destruction engagement zone,” meaning that they hit relatively close to each other in a pattern so that the penetration and the shock waves interreacted with each other, thus multiplying the effect and affecting a much wider area.

If the missile bus carried just six large warheads without submunitions, they may be dispersed some distance from each other so that the penetration into the ground might be deeper, but the overall width of the targeted area may be smaller compared to an equivalent dispersion of smaller submunitions.

The glowing material the first responders reported may be some kind of molten natural material in the form of magma (underground molten rock) or lava (molten rock above ground). It would be correct to say that they likely saw something that reminded them of lava. It is unknown what ammunition can create this effect.

It is definitely not nuclear but rather kinetic, and many experts agree — kinetic warheads made of a dense and very high-temperature resistant material. The next question is whether the projectile is purely inert (kinetic) or if some active component has been incorporated. Based on available information in the scientific domain, there are some merits to the argument that there may also be a unique explosive present, adding to the kinetic effect.