MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Moscow would carry out more tests of the hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missile in “combat conditions,” a day after firing one on Ukraine.

“We will continue these tests, including in combat conditions, depending on the situation and character of the security threats posted to Russia,” Putin said in a televised meeting with military chiefs.

Russia fired the new-generation missile at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro early Thursday in a major escalation of the weaponry being deployed in the nearly three-year conflict.

The Kremlin boss also ordered the missile, which flies at speeds of Mach 10 -- 10 times the speed of sound -- to be put into serial production. Russia is developing similar advanced systems, he added.

“We need to begin serial production. The decision... has in effect been taken,” Putin said, praising the “particular strength of this weapon and its power.

“The weapon system that was tested yesterday is another faithful guarantee of Russia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty,” he added.

Putin claimed no other countries in the world had such missile technology.

While he conceded other states would soon develop them, he said: “That will be tomorrow, after a year or two. But we have this system now. That’s important.”

His choreographed meeting with the defence minister and those in charge of developing the missile came at the end of a week that has seen the Ukraine conflict escalate rapidly.

Putin said the firing of the Oreshnik missile was a direct response to Kyiv’s forces using US- and UK-supplied missiles on Russian territory for the first time.

Published in Dawn, November 23th, 2024