Putin Threatens to Target Kyiv’s ‘Decision-Making Centers’ with ‘Oreshnik’ Missile

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia might target Ukraine’s key decision-making centers in Kyiv with its “never-before-seen” hypersonic ballistic missile Oreshnik [Hazel tree] as part of its ongoing military strategy.

Speaking at the CSTO summit in Astana on Thursday, Nov. 28, Putin said that Russian military officials are currently selecting targets across Ukraine – including military facilities, industrial sites, and command centers in Kyiv.

Putin also discussed Russia’s recent deployment of the “Oreshnik” [Hazel tree] missile system to the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Nov. 21, a weapon he claimed “has no global equivalent.”

“Oreshnik [Hazel tree] affects even highly protected and deep-lying objects,” Putin said, describing the missile as capable of reaching speeds of 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) per second and temperatures of 4,000 degrees Celsius (7,232 degrees Fahrenheit).

“Everything in the epicenter of the explosion is divided into fractions, into elementary particles, and turns into dust.”

Putin said that the “Oreshnik” [Hazel tree] system does not use nuclear warheads, which means there is no radioactive fallout.

“Although ‘Oreshnik’ is certainly not a weapon of mass destruction... it is highly accurate,” he said. “There is no nuclear charge here, and therefore no nuclear contamination after its use.”

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