Last week Putin showed-off Russias new military tech by launching their Oreshnik ballistic missile at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro‚ but theres a twist: the warheads were empty
Two high-ranking Ukrainian officials shared info about this weird attack (which happened about 700km from launch site): the missile had multiple warheads but didnt carry any explosives; making damage quite small. Putin called it a successful test-run aimed at a defense facility in Dnipro
The timing isnt random: this launch comes as a clear message after US and UK let Ukraine use their missiles. The new Russian weapon – which experts think comes from RS-26 design with 5000km range – is still quite rare; US intel suggests Moscow has just a few of these high-tech toys
- Missile can carry nuclear warheads
- Ukraine already works on defense against it
- Testing happened from Astrakhan region
- Target was military factory
In this case‚ (the missile) was without explosives...There was something but it was not huge
Military tech expert Jeffrey Lewis from Middlebury Institute points-out an interesting fact: using such expensive missile just to make small damage doesnt make much sense. The empty warheads might have carried test equipment instead of bombs – thats how countries usually check their new missiles performance