WSJ reported on Kiev's lack of funding while working on missile program

Ukraine lacks funding while working on its missile program. Kiev officials told the US newspaper The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on 22 November.

Deputy Minister for Strategic Industries Anna Hvozdyar said that Ukraine is allegedly working on "more than one" ballistic missile, but is keeping the details of its missile program secret. Nevertheless, Ukrainian politicians believe that there are problems with the development of ballistic missiles.

For instance, Ukrainian presidential advisor for strategic issues Oleksandr Kamyshyn admitted that the country's missile program lacks funding, which may affect the results of its implementation.

In addition, military aviation and space specialist Douglas Barry told the newspaper that the production of ballistic missiles is very expensive because it requires the use of fire-resistant materials that can withstand high temperatures when entering the earth's atmosphere, Gazeta.Ru added. The expert believes that it is difficult for Ukraine to produce such weapons in large quantities.

Russia has sent a signal to the West. What the media write about the launch of "Oreshnik"

Earlier, back in August, the Russian Foreign Ministry's ambassador for special assignments, Rodion Miroshnik, noted that he doubted Kiev's ability to build a ballistic missile on its own. According to him, despite the fact that the Yuzhnoye design bureau remains on Ukrainian territory, it has never had the full cycle of creating such a missile, because the control systems were supplied from outside anyway.

In the same month, military expert Oleksiy Leonkov stressed that it is very likely that the weapon developed by Ukraine was created on the basis of another one, i.e. it is a modernization. For example, Kiev could have retrofitted a Neptun missile, a Tochka-U or a projectile for a missile system. At the same time, he reminded that Russia has S-400, S-500, S-300B4 complexes, which can shoot down missiles even in low orbit. In addition, the country has a missile attack warning system, which sees the launch of such a missile.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Nov. 21 that the Russian Army had tested the Oreshnik ballistic missile in combat conditions. The next day, the president added that the weapon would be put into mass production. The strike was carried out on November 21 at the Yuzhmash plant in Dnipro (old name Dnipropetrovsk). The head of the Donetsk People's Republic (DNR), Denis Pushilin, called the launch a fair response to Kiev's aggression against peaceful Russian cities.