NEW YORK, December 30, 2025, 18:13 ET
- Russia released video showing its nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile system being put on combat duty in Belarus.
- The deployment pushes the weapon closer to NATO’s eastern flank, raising pressure on regional security.
- The move comes as U.S.-led efforts to end the Ukraine war face fresh strain after Moscow accused Kyiv of a drone attack on a presidential residence.
Russia on Tuesday released video of what it said was the deployment of its nuclear-capable hypersonic Oreshnik missile system in neighbouring Belarus, placing the weapon on combat duty for the first time.
Why it matters now is geography. Belarus borders Ukraine and NATO members Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, and the move would bring Russian missiles closer to European targets.
The announcement also lands as Washington presses Moscow and Kyiv to close a deal to end the war, with both sides still at odds over territorial control and post-war security guarantees.
Russia’s state news agency TASS said it was the first time the defence ministry had shown off the mobile systems. President Vladimir Putin has said the missiles are impossible to intercept because of speeds he has described as more than 10 times the speed of sound.
Hypersonic typically refers to weapons that travel faster than five times the speed of sound. Mach is a measure of speed, and Mach 10 is about 10 times the speed of sound.
The footage, released by the Russian and Belarusian defence ministries, showed mobile launchers moving along forest roads in light snow, with specialist troops camouflaging vehicles with netting. The ministries did not disclose the location.
A senior Russian officer in the video told troops the systems had been placed on combat duty and spoke of regular training and reconnaissance routines for missile crews.
Russia tested a conventionally armed Oreshnik against a target in Ukraine in November 2024. Putin has said its destructive power is comparable to that of a nuclear weapon even when fitted with a conventional warhead.
Russia has described the weapon as capable of carrying nuclear or conventional warheads, and AP reported Moscow has said the missile can travel up to about 5,000 km (3,100 miles).
The deployment follows Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s earlier statements that no more than around a dozen systems would be deployed, a step his defence minister cast as a response to what he called Western aggression.
Tensions rose further after the Kremlin said it would toughen its negotiating stance after accusing Kyiv of attacking a Russian presidential residence in the Novgorod region with 91 long-range drones, an allegation Ukraine denied. Russia has provided no evidence beyond a defence ministry statement, Reuters reported.
Phillips O’Brien, a professor of strategic studies at the University of St Andrews, warned that disputed claims and competing narratives risk undermining any ceasefire process. “We are in big trouble,” he said. The Guardian
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida as negotiations continue, even as Moscow pairs diplomacy with displays of military pressure, The Independent reported.
