Vladimir Putin‘s cronies are urging the Russian leader to unleash a 7,600mph Oreshnik ballistic missile on Ukraine after Kyiv mounted its biggest drone attack on Russia since the war began. Colonel-General Andrey Kartapolov said the decision is Putin’s, but added “it would not be unreasonable” to target Ukraine with an Oreshnik. He added: “Better yet, more than one.”
Ukraine targeted 10 regions in Russia with 343 drones, leaving three people dead and 18 wounded, including three children, according to officials. The Ukrainian air force said Russia launched 126 drones and a ballistic missile towards Ukraine. It formed part of Moscow’s relentless pounding of civilian areas during the war.
Kartapolov labelled Kyiv’s drone attack on Moscow as a “propaganda move” aimed at “showing off” before talks between the US and Ukraine in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday (March 11), according to remarks quoted by The Kyiv Independent, citing Russia’s TASS state news agency.
Russia has already targeted Ukraine with Oreshnik missiles, striking Dnipro in November last year.
Putin described the strike as a “test” of the new intermediate-range ballistic missile and linked its use to Ukraine’s targeting Russian territory with Storm Shadow cruise missiles and ATACMS, supersonic tactical ballistic missiles provided by the West.
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Experts suggested the Russian missile was launched from Russia’s Kapustin Yar facility, identifying the projectile as an RS-26. Kyiv said six warheads were used by Russia in the Dnipro attack.
The Oreshnik travels at Mach 10 (7,673mph), making it almost impossible to intercept, and can strike at targets up to 3,107 (5,000km) away.
Most of the Ukrainian drones fired overnight — 126 of them — were shot down over the Kursk region across the border from Ukraine, parts of which Kyiv’s forces control.
Ninety one were shot down over the Moscow region, according to a statement by Russia’s Defence Ministry.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said more than 70 drones targeted the Russian capital and were shot down as they flew towards the city — the biggest single attack on Moscow so far in the war.
The governor of the Moscow region surrounding the capital, Andrei Vorobyov, said the attack damaged several residential buildings and a number of cars.
Flights were temporarily restricted in and out of six airports, including Domodedovo, Vnukovo, Sheremetyevo and Zhukovsky just outside Moscow. Airports in the Yaroslavl and Nizhny Novgorod regions were also affected.
Today’s talks in the Saudi city of Jeddah come after Mr Trump paused US military aid to Ukraine last week, along with some intelligence sharing, in a bid to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to engage in negotiations to end the war against Russia.
Mr Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is expected to travel later this week to Moscow, where he could meet with Putin, according to a person familiar with the matter but not authorised to comment publicly. The person cautioned that timetable could change.