Putin threatens to target 'decision-making centers' in Kyiv with Oreshnik missile

"Decision-making centers" in Kyiv can be among the targets of Oreshnik, Russia's new intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed on Nov. 28.

Putin has repeatedly threatened to attack Ukraine's "decision-making centers" since the beginning of Russia's full-scale war.

Russia daily strikes Ukrainian cities with drones, missiles, and guided bombs, with nearly 200 aerial targets launched at Ukraine overnight on Nov. 28.

Speaking at the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) summit in Astana, Putin said that Russia's military leadership is now "choosing targets" in Ukraine to hit them with Oreshnik.

"These could be military facilities, defense and industrial enterprises, or decision-making centers in Kyiv," Putin said.

Russia first launched Oreshnik in an attack against the city of Dnipro on Nov. 21. Shortly thereafter, Putin claimed that "there are currently no ways of countering this weapon," which later was refuted by President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Russia's Oreshnik attack followed Kyiv's first successful strike on a military target on Russian soil using U.S.-supplied ATACMS missiles. The Russian Defense Ministry admitted more such strikes against targets in Kursk and Bryansk oblasts had followed later.

According to Putin, Russia has begun mass production of Oreshnik. Previously, a U.S. official told the Kyiv Independent that Moscow likely possesses "only a handful" of these experimental missiles.

"In the case of a mass use of these missiles, the power of this strike would be comparable to the use of nuclear weapons. Although Oreshnik is not a weapon of mass destruction," Putin added.

The Kyiv Independent could not verify these claims.

Experts have called into question his claims regarding the weapon's novelty. Analysts, including Pentagon officials, have said the missile appears to be based heavily on Russia's RS-26 Rubezh IRBM.

The missile fired at Ukraine a week ago carried warheads without explosives, Reuters reported on Nov. 27, citing two unnamed senior Ukrainian government sources.

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