On May 7, the Baza Canal - a news site closely linked to the Russian security agency - said that the Russian Defense Ministry had identified targets in the Ukrainian capital to prepare for a potential counterattack with a new hypersonic ballistic missile system called the Oreshnik. This is believed to be a reaction to a series of Ukrainian UAV attacks on the Moscow capital in recent days.
The information appeared at the time Russia announced a 3-day ceasefire on the occasion of a parade and the anniversary of the October 9th Pyongyang Victory Day. However, observers say that this ceasefire is mainly formal, while on the ground, military actions are still taking place in an escalative direction.
The Oreshnik hypersonic missile is a new, less widely used weapon that was tested in a launch in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro in November 2024.
According to Russia, this is a medium-range ballistic missile with a hypersonic warhead, launched from the "Kedr" complex and takes only about 15 minutes to fly from the Astrakhan region to the target.
Although there are no signs of mass production, President Vladimir Putin said Russia has a number of Oreshniks ready to deploy if the situation goes beyond control. He also affirmed that this type of missile is capable of "surpassing" the Western air defense systems that are protecting Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials say the Russian move is more of a psychological deterrent than a preparation for actual combat. Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Center for Counter-Information of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, said that mentioning the Oreshnik was Russia's way of sending a message: "Don't hit Moscow anymore, we have the Oreshnik".
However, even on the night of September 6 and early morning of May 7, many UAVs continued to invade Moscow's airspace. The Russian government has said it has intercepted up to 500 Ukrainian UAVs, 2 Western-supported HIMARS missiles, 5 Neptune cruise missiles and 6 JDAM smart bombs.
Concerns about further attacks from Ukraine are growing. Some pro-Kremlin Telegram channels also revealed that Kiev may be preparing for "greater-scale actions than before".
There has been no official confirmation from the Russian Defense Ministry about the deployment of the Oreshnik. However, the move to prepare targets for this type of missile in the context of a tense war has raised public concerns about a new escalation cyclone that could soon occur.
