Russia is using its hypersonic missile to send political messages. How dangerous is Orasonic?

Not only did Russia use a hypersonic missile to target a site in western Ukraine near the EU border with Poland, but high-ranking officials boasted about the power of the nuclear-capable weapon, which some saw as a clear warning to the West.

Ukraine’s Air Force said the missile, which can be equipped with six warheads, each carrying its own submunition, travels at a speed of 13,000 kilometers per hour, but did not disclose details about what exactly was hit.

This is the second time that Russia has used the Oreshnik against Ukraine, a hypersonic missile that is impossible for the country to intercept.

But Moscow’s choice to use it alongside a barrage of other lethal weapons, including ballistic missiles and drones, appears to be more about political messaging than military strategy.

In a post on the social media platform Telegram, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who serves as vice-chairman of the country’s Security Council, compared the Orashnik attack to an anti-psychotic drug that was desperately needed in a world dominated by “unruly actors” and “dangerous psychopaths.”

In the same post he protested the “kidnapping” of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and the seizure of a Russian-flagged Shadow Fleet tanker.

‘Propaganda Weapon’

The leaders of Britain, France and Germany condemned Russia’s use of the missile, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called it a clear and dangerous escalation.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called it a warning to America and Europe.

But on the streets of Kiev, many residents see it as just another deadly Russian weapon. On Friday morning workers were busy clearing debris after separate attacks that left four people dead, including a paramilitary.

Resident Oleksandr Poliak, 30, says his most immediate concern is the hundreds of martyr drones that are regularly launched over the capital.

“It’s more important to think about this type of weapon than the Oreshnik. The Oreshnik is like a propaganda weapon,” Poliak said in an interview with a freelance crew working for CBC News.

“Russia deploys these types of weapons every time they are not satisfied with some…negotiations.”

Nuclear capable missiles are rarely used

Russia said it launched an Oreshnik missile at a Ukrainian state enterprise on Thursday night in revenge for a failed drone attack on President Vladimir Putin’s residence last month.

Ukraine calls those allegations “absurd lies” and the United States says the attack did not take place.

Russia first used the medium-range missile in November 2024 when it targeted an industrial facility in Dnipro.

In a televised address delivered within hours of that attack, Putin said Oreshnik was launched in response to the US and UK allowing Ukraine to use long-range weapons to attack targets in Russia.

He warned that NATO’s aggressive actions were prompting Russia to test weapons, which he claimed was impossible to stop.

What’s so different about Orasonic?

Experts say what differentiates the Oreshnik from other ballistic missiles being used by Russia against Ukraine is that it travels at hypersonic speeds and can be equipped with six warheads and submunitions that can be fired at different targets.

Marina Miron, a post-doctoral researcher at the Department of Defense Studies at King’s College London, says the weapon has three distinct stages.

The first is the boost stage, where it is launched and sent into space. He said this phase is expected to last between two to four minutes.

Once it is in space, a part of the missile detaches and falls back to Earth, leaving a component called a Multiple Independently-Targetable Reentry Vehicle (MIRV) to continue traveling in space, carrying the warhead.

In the third stage, the MIRV adjusts its trajectory before the weapon is released.

Given that each missile can carry six warheads and submunitions, Miron says it is possible that “36 things could fall from the sky.”

Can it be stopped?

Experts, including Miron, say it is impossible for Ukraine to intercept the Oresnik, as it does not have hypersonic interceptors, and would be unable to aim the weapon through space.

Miron says that when munitions rain down they can be scattered over a wide area, making it extremely challenging.

“It’s like I fire a round and the round is flying and you try to stop it by throwing a stone,” she said in a phone interview with CBC News from Munich.

“You might get lucky, but the chances are close to zero.”

Such news has come That specific interceptor systems, which the US and Israel have, could theoretically intercept this type of missile, but Miron says their effectiveness needs to be tested.

“You will need layered air defense,” he said.

“But generally speaking, it’s very difficult to do anything against it.”

Why did Russia launch it now?

Reuters reported that an unnamed senior Ukrainian official said the Lviv Oreshnik was carrying inert or counterfeit weapons.

Many officials and defense experts believe the weapon was used by Russia to warn Ukraine’s allies.

“I think this is a clear message to Trump, Macron, Merz and European leaders,” Lviv Mayor Andrey Sadovy said in an interview with Reuters.

“This attack was effectively carried out on the EU border. And a similar missile could have reached European capitals in six to seven minutes.”

It is unclear how many Oreshnik missile systems Russia has, although last year Moscow announced it had shipped some of them to belarusA key military ally for the Kremlin. moscow has already been launched Some of its attacks on Ukraine come from Belarusian territory.

Glenn Grant, a retired British lieutenant-colonel and defense expert at the Latvia-based Baltic Security Foundation, said it really doesn’t make sense for Russia to use an expensive hypersonic weapon to target infrastructure it is already successfully hitting with drones and other missiles.

Instead, he believes it was used solely to convey a political message.

“In other words, if we can fly it that far, we can fly it to Warsaw or we can fly it to Riga, or we can fly it to Tallin,” he told CBC News in a Zoom interview from Riga, Latvia.

“And of course, it’s nuclear capable.”