Russian President Reveals New Capabilities of Oreshnik Hypersonic Missile

According to the Russian state news agency TASS, on February 21, the country's President, Mr. Vladimir Putin, announced that the warhead mounted on the Oreshnik medium-range hypersonic ballistic missile can withstand temperatures equal to the surface of the Sun.

Speaking at the plenary session of the Future Technologies Forum, the Russian leader said: “The whole world is talking about Oreshnik. And what materials were used? The temperature on these warheads is comparable to the temperature on the surface of the Sun.”

Mr. Putin also compared the heat resistance of Oreshnik with the Avangard hypersonic missile system, which was developed since the 1980s.

“We understand this. We have been developing the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle system since the 1980s. The temperature it experiences is almost the same as the temperature on the surface of the Sun, just a little lower,” the President of the Russian Federation said.

Mr. Putin emphasized that Russian scientists had been hatching the idea of ​​developing such systems since the late 1980s, but materials technology at that time was not advanced enough to make them a reality.

“At that time, we couldn’t do it because we didn’t have the right materials. That was the biggest problem. The rocket flew up but melted like ice cream. But the control signals were still transmitted,” Putin explained, stressing that recent technological innovations were the result of research and development of new materials.

Previously, on November 28, 2024, Mr. Putin revealed the capabilities of the Oreshnik medium-range hypersonic ballistic missile at the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Summit, held in the capital Astana of Kazakhstan.

The Russian leader said the Oreshnik medium-range hypersonic ballistic missile is capable of hitting targets that are heavily fortified and located deep underground.

According to Mr. Putin, the mass deployment of these missiles in a single attack would create a force comparable to a nuclear attack.

“Everything that was in the center of the explosion (created by the Oreshnik missile) was broken down into elementary molecules, basically turned into dust,” the President of the Russian Federation said.

According to RT, during a meeting with Moscow's important regional allies in Kazakhstan, Mr. Putin also declared that the Russian Federation could choose to target "decision-making centers."

He explained that military facilities could be targeted, along with defense and industrial enterprises, especially since Kiev has repeatedly attempted to attack facilities of national importance in the Russian Federation.

According to the leader of the Russian Federation, Moscow already has a number of Oreshnik missiles in stock and has begun large-scale production of this advanced weapons system.

Regarding Oreshnik, the Ukrainian newspaper The Kyiv Post reported on February 22, 2025 that so far, this medium-range hypersonic ballistic missile has only been used once, on November 21, 2024, in an attack on the Pivdenmash defense facility in Dnipro, Ukraine.

Moscow later announced that this was a response to Ukraine's use of US-supplied Army Tactical Ballistic Missiles (ATACMS) and British Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles to attack the territory of the Russian Federation.

At that time, the Oreshnik medium-range hypersonic ballistic missile was detected being launched from the Kapustin Yar ballistic missile base in the Astrakhan region, carrying 6 MIRV warheads (warheads capable of attacking multiple independent targets) to hit the target area.

However, the attack caused negligible material damage, as the warheads were assessed to be unexplosive, suggesting that the use of the Oreshnik was more of a political warning than a practical military effect.

After the launch, Mr. Putin declared: “There is currently no way to intercept this type of weapon. The missile hits the target at a speed of Mach 10 (12,300 km/h – 7,700 mph)… We are ready for any situation. If anyone still has doubts, they should not.”

The Kyiv Post newspaper quoted Russian military sources as saying that the Oreshnik missile has a range of 5,000 km (3,100 miles), meaning that if launched from the territory of the Russian Federation, it would be capable of hitting most of Europe and even the West Coast of the United States.

Reuters news agency quoted Anatoly Matviychuk, a Russian military expert, as saying: “This missile can carry 6 to 8 warheads, which can be conventional or nuclear. This is probably one of the weapons with unparalleled flexibility and power.”

Expert Matviychuk also reiterated Putin's statement: "The MIRV design allows it to hit multiple targets with high precision, while the warhead material can withstand extremely high temperatures - this makes a big difference."

However, the Pentagon has been cautious about Moscow’s claims. Sabrina Singh, deputy press secretary for the US Department of Defense, said the missile launched by the Russian Federation could be a modified version of the RS-26 Rubezh – an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The Russian Federation has modified the design to turn it into a medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) to avoid violating existing missile agreements.

Washington also said it was informed in advance of the launch through nuclear risk reduction channels.

“It’s a new capability, but it’s not a revolution in conventional weapons,” Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Middlebury Institute, said on the Arms Control Wonk podcast. “It’s just a combination of old technologies in a new way. The reentry speed is enough to do damage, even if the warhead is empty.”