Russia could use its new Oreshnik medium-range ballistic missile against Ukraine again in the "coming days." The information was advanced by a US source on Wednesday, citing an assessment by the US intelligence services.
"Russia has expressed its intention to launch a new experimental Oreshnik missile against Ukraine, potentially in the coming days," said the senior US official, quoted by the French news agency AFP and who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The first launch of this new weapon targeted the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on November 21.
"But this missile is not likely to change the dynamics on the battlefield. Its purpose is to intimidate Ukraine and its allies," he said.
He added: "The Oreshnik, with its smaller warhead and limited availability, is not likely to change the course of the conflict."
Another US official, also quoted by AFP, also sought to dispel any concerns, saying that "Russia probably only has a handful of these experimental missiles".
The threat comes at a time when both sides are trying to gain an advantage on the battlefield and just days after the US announced a new aid package for Kyiv.
On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that an adequate number of the new Oreshnik medium-range ballistic missiles were in place and that the need for the armed forces to use nuclear weapons was downplayed.
"The existence of a sufficient number of these modern weapons systems makes the need for nuclear weapons practically non-existent," Putin said at a meeting of the Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights, as quoted by the Russian news agency TASS.
Russia announced a few weeks ago that it would launch a new missile against Ukrainian territory in response to the use of Western long-range missiles by the Ukrainian armed forces against Russian territory.
Moscow praised the destructive capacity of this new missile, for which, it claims, the West has no response.
