The campaign took place on the night of July 8, 2024 at the Kapustin Yar launch site, the Astrakhan region in southeastern Russia. The information was announced by Ukraine on October 31 and was the first time Ukraine has disclosed information about the incident.
Vasyl Malyuk, head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), said the operation was kept confidential, with only President Volodymyr Zelensky and a few foreign leaders familiar with it.
The Military Intelligence Service of Ukraine (HUR) released some details on Telegram, saying it had coordinated with SBU and the Foreign Intelligence Service (SZRU) in the mission to destroy Russia's new long-range ballistic missile Oreshnik.
President Zelensky said the Oreshnik missile has a range of 5,500km and a "dead zone" of 700km. The "dead zone" is understood as the area where the missile is most likely to hit the target. According to HUR, Russia plans to deploy this type of missile in Belarus.
Russia first attacked Ukraine with the Oreshnik missile in November 2024. At the time, President Vladimir Putin described it as a non-nuclear hypersonic missile that no defense system could intercept.
US authorities call the Oreshnik a test medium-range ballistic missile, based on the RS-26 Rubezh design ( NATO calls it SS-X-31) - a solid fuel missile that can carry a nuclear warhead.
Russia's attack by the Oreshnik missile last year has raised concerns among Ukraine and the West, as it is the first time such a long-range missile has been used in combat. Russia claims the Oreshnik can fly at Mach 10 and carry multiple warheads at the same time.
Despite having a range of deep into Europe, missile experts still have many concerns about the practical capabilities and strategic value of the new Russian weapon.
Many sides believe that Russia only has a few Oreshnik missiles. However, in June this year, President Putin emphasized that mass production of this new missile is underway. It is unclear how many Oreshnik missiles Russia can produce per year.
Meanwhile, on October 31, Ukrainian President Zelensky said that Russia could produce a maximum of 6 Oreshnik missiles per year. Ukrainian media quoted the head of the Ukrainian Security Service Malyuk as saying that last year's covert operation destroyed one of Russia's three Oreshnik missiles.
The destruction of the Oreshnik missile is one of many covert operations that Ukraine has carried out inside Russia. In addition, Kiev has carried out daring assassinations and attacks on many Russian military facilities.
