Russia could launch another hypersonic missile at Ukraine soon, US official says

It first fired the Oreshnik missile at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Nov 21

Parts of a ballistic missile, which Russia used in a strike towards Dnipro city this week, are displayed, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, at an undisclosed location in Ukraine Nov 24, 2024. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

Russia could launch another hypersonic ballistic missile in Ukraine in the coming days, but Washington does not consider the Oreshnik weapon a game-changer in the war, a U.S. official said on Wednesday.

Russia first fired the Oreshnik missile at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Nov. 21, in what President Vladimir Putin cast as a response to Ukraine's first use of U.S. ATACMs ballistic missiles and British Storm Shadows to strike Russian territory with Western permission.

"We assess that the Oreshnik is not a game-changer on the battlefield, but rather just another attempt by Russia to terrorize Ukraine, which will fail," the official said.

There was no immediate response from Russia.

Putin has previously said Russia may use the Oreshnik again, including to hit "decision-making centers" in Kyiv, if Ukraine keeps attacking Russia with long-range Western weapons.

Putin has claimed that the Oreshnik, or hazel tree, is impossible to intercept and that it has destructive power comparable to that of a nuclear weapon, even when fitted with a conventional warhead.

Some Western experts have said the novel feature of the Oreshnik was that it carried multiple warheads capable of simultaneously striking different targets - something usually associated with longer-range intercontinental ballistic missiles.

But the U.S. official downplayed the usefulness of the missiles, calling them "experimental" in nature and said that "Russia likely possesses only a handful" of them. The official also said the weapon has a smaller warhead than other missiles Russia has deployed in Ukraine.

Washington says more deliveries of U.S. air defence exports to Ukraine are on the way to the country.

The war is entering what some Russian and Western officials say could be its final and most dangerous phase as Moscow's forces advance at their fastest pace since the early weeks of the conflict.

President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office next month, has pushed for a ceasefire and negotiations to end the war quickly, leaving Washington's long-term support for Ukraine in question.

Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine has left tens of thousands of dead, displaced millions and triggered the biggest crisis in relations between Moscow and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.