Putin announced that the first serial Oreshnik had joined the army.
The first serial Oreshnik complex has already entered the army, Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with Alexander Lukashenko. In addition, Moscow and Minsk are currently discussing where the Oreshnik will be located in Belarus. The State Duma believes that the fact of the appearance of these weapons on the Belarusian territory should "cool down the hotheads."
The first mass-produced Oreshnik missile system was produced in Russia, President Vladimir Putin said.
Putin and Lukashenko discussed plans to deploy Oreshnik in Belarus. The locations for the installation of the complex have already been selected, and preparations are underway.
"So, most likely, we will close this issue by the end of the year. Everything is according to plan," Putin said.
"The military, although they are specific people, are in a hurry everywhere, they wanted to place this "Hazel Tree", meaning the Belarusian position, sometime next year. Vladimir Vladimirovich was right to say that this year we basically have to finish these construction, creation, and so on processes. We are not backing away from this," Lukashenko said.
The target of the Oreshnik could be Western weapons in Ukraine, such as the SCALP and Storm Shadow missiles, as well as the HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems, said Andrei Kolesnik, a member of the State Duma Defense Committee.
"I think the first targets of Oreshnik may be the French SCALP, the American HIMARS, the British Storm Shadow. These are the first goals. Plus, large facilities of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine," the deputy is convinced.
"It will cool down the heads"
Alexey Zhuravlev, deputy chairman of the State Duma's defense committee, told the newspaper.Ru", that the fact of placing the "Hazel Grove" in Belarus should "cool down the hotheads."
"Belarus is closer to the main European capitals than Russia, so putting the Hazelnuts there is a great idea, which, as the Russian president said, will be implemented by the end of the year. It is clear that our trust in Minsk is unprecedented, since we have supplied it with nuclear weapons - these are our most loyal and closest friends - so we should have had a common security system for a long time," he said.
According to Zhuravlev, it is "strategically necessary" to shift the deterrence forces to the west.
"At a time when the West threatens us almost daily, mobilizes its own armies, arranges maneuvers on our borders, supplies weapons and directly participates in the war on the side of Ukraine, it is strategically necessary to shift deterrence forces to the west," the deputy concluded, stressing that the strike of the "Hazel" on the Dnieper produced "an indelible impression" on Europe and the USA.
A blow to the Dnieper
On November 21, 2024, Vladimir Putin announced that in response to attacks by American ATACMS and British Storm Shadow missiles on targets on Russian territory, Moscow had hit the Yuzhmash military plant in Dnepropetrovsk (the Ukrainian name is Dnipro) using the latest Oreshnik medium-range missile system.
Putin stressed that no modern air defense systems will be able to repel such attacks, therefore, in the future, the population of Ukraine will be warned in advance so that people can evacuate.
The President noted that Russia could use the Oreshnik missile again if necessary, but was in no hurry to do so: the armed forces always respond in a mirror manner.
Leonid Tsvetaev
