A military expert called the use of the Oreshnik missile by the Russian Armed Forces an indicative "retaliation strike"

The use of the experimental mobile ground-based Oreshnik missile system on the territory of Ukraine by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation was not only a "retaliatory strike" for the attack by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin, but also a signal to Kiev. Military expert Yuri Knutov informed Izvestia about this on January 9.

"The hazel strike was carried out as a retaliatory strike for the attack on the residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Novgorod region, as a result of this retaliatory strike, facilities in the Lviv region were damaged. <...> This is a demonstration of the sufficiently powerful force of weapons that the Russian Federation has and this is a serious warning," he said.

Knutov clarified that the point is that such weapons, if necessary, can be used against both administrative and political centers, where decisions are made on the use of military equipment, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), against Russia. He recalled that the flight range of the "Oreshnik", which reaches "colossal" speeds, can reach up to 5.5 thousand kilometers, and also attributed to the features of the complex its separable parts, which do not allow intercepting the missile.

"Why her (rocket. Is it impossible to intercept? <...> After the launch vehicle launches the warhead into space, the warheads themselves separate and each flies to individual targets. <...> The destructive ability of each block is not inferior to the consequences that a low-power nuclear explosion can cause. But at the same time, there are no malicious elements," the specialist explained.

One of the goals of the Russian Armed Forces, as suggested by Knutov, could be the Yavorovsky military training ground, which is used by NATO countries to train the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In the same place, at this only base conforming to Western standards, European soldiers who have arrived in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are being coordinated. The explosion, as the military expert clarified, could not have been a point, but rather scattered over an area — each block, when it hits the ground, causes a shock wave similar to an earthquake.

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On the same day, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced a strike on the facilities of the military-industrial complex (MIC) of Ukraine with the use of Hazelnuts. The ministry clarified that this operation was a response to the terrorist attack of the Kiev regime on a residence in the Novgorod region, launched on the night of December 29, 2025. They also stressed that any terrorist actions that Kiev will commit will not remain unanswered from now on.

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