On Friday, October 31, 2025, the Head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), General Vasyl Maliuk, revealed during a press briefing with President Volodymyr Zelensky that three intelligence agencies, the SBU, the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense (HUR MO), and the Foreign Intelligence Service (SZRU), carried out a secret operation during the night of July 8–9, 2024, to destroy the then publicly unknown Russian intermediate-range ballistic missile Oreshnik.
The only photograph of the Oreshnik model was “accidentally” revealed by Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenko on September 30 of this year. / Photo: Administration of the President of the Republic of Belarus
According to General Maliuk, the results of the operation were previously shared only with the President of Ukraine and a few foreign leaders. The system was destroyed at the Kapustin Yar missile range in Russia’s Astrakhan region.
President Zelensky noted that, according to available intelligence, the Russian Federation plans to deploy one of the remaining Oreshnik systems in Belarus. The system has an operational range of about 5,500 km and a dead zone of roughly 700 km.
Last year, the HUR MO published detailed technical specifications of the Oreshnik missile system (also known as Kedr), along with a list of Russian defense industry enterprises involved in its development
The only publicly known graphic showing the RS-26 Rubezh missile and its launcher
Oreshnik
Russia developed the conventional ballistic missile Oreshnik, which was revealed on November 21, 2024, when it was used in an attack on the Yuzhmash missile plant (A. M. Makarov Southern Machine-Building Plant) in Dnipro, Ukraine. A second, unsuccessful attack — this time on Kyiv — took place on February 7 of this year. It is believed that experimental or prototype units were used in the attacks.
Oreshnik carries conventional hypersonic warheads capable of reaching speeds of Mach 10. It is believed to have six warheads, each equipped with a decoy to counter enemy defenses. Interestingly, Ukrainian investigators found components of the R-30 Bulava submarine-launched ballistic missile among the debris in Dnipro.
It is, however, believed that Oreshnik originates from the RS-26 Rubezh ballistic missile program, which featured four thermonuclear warheads of 150/300 kT each, with a reduced (non-intercontinental) range. The program was, at least officially, suspended in favor of the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle program, as reported by the TASS news agency on March 22, 2018.
The MZKT-79291 transporter-launcher before the parade celebrating the Independence Day of the Republic of Belarus in Minsk / Photo: State Military Industry Committee of Belarus
The RS-26 Rubezh was approximately 12 meters long, with a launch weight of 36 tons and a payload capacity of at least 1.2 tons. It had a maximum range of 5,600 km and was considered a smaller version of the intercontinental ballistic missile RS-24 Yars, having one fewer rocket stage (two instead of three). It was developed by the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology, the Volgograd Barricades Plant, the Soyuz State Dual-Use Technology Center, the Central Research Institute of Automation and Hydraulics (CNIIAG), the Proektor Design Bureau, and the Sozvezdie Concern.
Both the RS-26 Rubezh and the Oreshnik were mounted on a modified six-axle MZKT-79291 launcher, produced by the Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant (MZKT). The base chassis, with a gross vehicle weight of about 90 tons and a payload capacity of about 60 tons, is powered by a YaMZ-854.10 V8 diesel engine producing around 650 hp, paired with a hydromechanical transmission. This allows for a maximum road speed of about 45 km/h and an operational range of roughly 400–500 km.
According to the latest information, the delivery of the Oreshnik system to Belarus has been delayed until the end of the year, pending ratification of the Union State agreements. On August 1 of this year, Vladimir Putin announced that the system had entered serial production and that the first unit had been delivered to the Russian Armed Forces. Preparations for deployment in Belarus are already underway — a location has been selected, and infrastructure work is in progress to secure and protect the missile system. According to mid-year reports, Russia is also considering supplying the system to allied countries such as Venezuela and Cuba.
At the end of August this year, Planet Labs satellite images revealed what analysts interpreted as preparations for the deployment of the Oreshnik system about 60 km south of Minsk. In the area of a former Soviet Strategic Missile Forces regiment, a zone covering more than 2 km² was cleared of unexploded ordnance, and several new structures were erected on the site.
On the night of July 8–9, 2024, a joint operation conducted by the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine, and the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine destroyed “Oreshnik” ballistic missile inside russian territory.
🔗: https://t.co/FBumTVrtgU pic.twitter.com/t88ItYhKOr
— Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (@DI_Ukraine) October 31, 2025
Узгодив сьогодні основні напрями нашої подальшої санкційної роботи. Це санкції партнерів, до яких ми даємо свої пропозиції, наші санкції, які багато в чому є спільними із санкціями інших європейських країн, а також наші далекобійні санкції, які діють безпосередньо та найшвидше.…
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 31, 2025
