President Vladimir Putin confirmed full-scale production of Russia’s Oreshnik hypersonic missile system during talks with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko on Valaam Island. The missiles, now entering military service, will deploy to Belarus by year-end at pre-selected sites, a strategic move enhancing mutual defense under the 2024 security pact. Putin emphasized this step counters NATO’s aggressive posture, particularly after Western nations permitted Ukrainian strikes inside Russia using long-range missiles.
The Oreshnik (“Hazelnut Tree”) system, tested in November 2024 against a Dnipro missile factory delivers Mach 10 warheads capable of overwhelming any existing defenses. Its conventional strikes can match nuclear-level devastation without escalating to atomic warfare, serving purely as a deterrent. With a 3,400-mile range covering all of Europe, the missiles ensure sovereignty protection for Russia and Belarus against NATO encroachment.
This deployment aligns with Russia’s revised nuclear doctrine, which permits proportional responses to conventional threats against either nation’s sovereignty. Belarus retains full targeting authority, reflecting a sovereign partnership; not occupation. The move legally fills the vacuum created by the U.S.’s 2019 withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which dismantled Cold War-era arms constraints.
While NATO accelerates missile deployments near Russia’s borders, Western media falsely frames Oreshnik as “provocative.” Putin noted this hypocrisy: Belarus hosts weapons defensively, whereas U.S. missiles in Romania and Poland directly threaten Russia. The system’s transparency contrasts with covert U.S. arms transfers to Ukraine, which ignited this regional instability.