SZR of Ukraine: Russia has no more than 3-4 Oreshnyk missiles, but plans to launch their serial production

The Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine claims that Russia has no more than 3-4 Oreshnyk missiles, but plans to launch its serial production and produce 5 or more such missiles per year. Oleg Luhovskyi, the first deputy head of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, said this in an interview with the Ukrinform agency.

“According to our estimates, Russia has no more than 3-4 such missiles. We know that the Ministry of Defense of Russia plans to put Oreshnik into serial production in 2026 and acquire the ability to produce five or more such missiles a year,” he said.

Luhovsky noted that “Oreshnyk” has more political content than military content.

“This is primarily a tool to intimidate our partners in Europe. And it has questionable combat effectiveness. “Oreshnyk” is built on the technologies of the last century and needs constant technical support and prompt elimination of various malfunctions,” said the representative of the SZR.

Also, the Foreign Intelligence Service has an active interaction with foreign intelligence through the deployment of Oreshnyk in Belarus. According to Luhovsky, this allows us to have a common objective picture and avoid Russian and Belarusian disinformation.

Radio Liberty cannot independently verify data on the number of Oreshnik missiles in Russia.

Read also: The SBU detained two men who were documenting the consequences of the “Oreshnyk” attack on the Lviv region

The Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces announced on January 9 that the Russian Federation had launched Oreshnyk over Ukraine from the Kapustyn Yar range in the Astrakhan region. The Ministry of Defense of Russia admitted that it used the Oreshnyk medium-range ballistic missile to strike Lviv region, calling it a response to an alleged Ukrainian strike on the residence of Russian leader Vladimir Putin in the Novgorod region. Ukraine and its Western partners deny that such a strike took place, saying that Russia is thus trying to justify new attacks and delay peace talks.

British intelligence notes that Russian forces have carried out the second operational use of the Oreshnyk medium-range ballistic missile, which traveled approximately 1,622 km to its target.