Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Oreshnik missile system will be placed on combat duty by the end of the year. He made the statement during his speech at an expanded meeting of the Russian Defense Ministry’s board on Tuesday.
“Successful tests have been conducted of the Burevestnik strategic cruise missile with unlimited range and the Poseidon unmanned underwater vehicle. Thanks to the use of a nuclear power unit, these systems will remain unique and one of a kind for a long time, ensuring strategic parity, security, and Russia’s global position for decades to come. We will continue working on these systems, further refining and improving them, but they already exist,” Putin said.
“By the end of the year, the Oreshnik medium-range missile system with a hypersonic missile will be placed on combat duty. Last November, it was used in combat for the first time,” he added.
Earlier, Alyaksandr Lukashenka said he did not need the Poseidon or Burevestnik systems and confirmed that Oreshnik would enter combat duty in December and would be deployed on patrol over Belarus.