The Pentagon says the Oreshnik is a tweak of Russia’s RS-26 Rubezh missile, an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that has been tested since 2011.

Russia named the missile the Oreshnik, or hazel tree, and said it is impossible to intercept it with air defenses.

President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Russia will continue to test and start mass-producing the hypersonic ballistic missile that it fired at Ukraine Thursday.

President Vladimir Putin warned that his forces could strike “decision-making centers” in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv with new ballistic missiles as retaliation for attacks on Russia using Western missiles.

This is the first time Russia has used its so-called Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile in combat. The launch also serves as a warning to the West.

A new intermediate-range ballistic missile called Oreshnik used by Russia in a strike on Ukraine this month is a state-of-the art weapon that the West cannot intercept, President Vladimir Putin has said.

Russia launched a rare, experimental ballistic missile against Ukraine as tensions between Moscow and Washington continued to escalate.

The new design is based on the previous RS-26 Rubezh ballistic missile, according to the Pentagon. Readers can get up to speed on what else is already known about the missile strike on the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro in The War Zone‘s initial reporting here.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has announced that the Russian attack on the city of Dnipro with an Oreshnik experimental ballistic missile will be discussed at the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe on Wednesday,

The first combat use of Russia’s new IRBM — which Russian President Vladimir Putin called unstoppable — has drawn scrutiny from Western military experts.

Russia’s new ballistic missile flies on a high arc out of Earth’s atmosphere and releases multiple high-speed projectiles, making it challenging but not impossible to intercept