Belarus stated the reason for deploying Oreshnik missiles

“The Oreshnik hypersonic missile complex was deployed on Belarusian territory so that the West would understand that they would suffer unacceptable damage if they tried to interfere in our affairs,” Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin said in an interview with China’s CGTN television channel today.

Mr. Khrenin affirmed that Oreshnik is a weapon that serves the purpose of strategic deterrence, a way to respond to actions considered aggressive by Minsk. However, he noted that deploying this type of missile to Belarus is not intended to increase tensions in Europe.

Minister Khrenin also emphasized that Belarus will decide for itself the target for the Oreshnik missile system to be deployed on its territory. “We will independently determine the target, and Russia will support the operation of the system,” he said.

President Alexander Lukashenko announced on December 18 that the Oreshnik missile had been brought to Belarus and the deployment area had been prepared. The number of Oreshnik missiles brought by Russia to Belarus will not exceed 10 complexes. Mr. Khrenin said the Oreshnik system is expected to be put on combat duty this month.

Russia first used Oreshnik missiles in November 2024 to attack the city of Dnipro, central Ukraine. Russian officials announced that Oreshnik reached the speed of more than 10 times the speed of sound, equivalent to nearly 11,000 km/h.

In addition to high speed, the Oreshnik projectile is equipped with multiple independent target attack reentry vehicle (MIRV) technology, allowing each missile to carry up to 36 warheads. Mr. Putin said that no Western air defense system can block this missile.

Ukrainian army commander Oleksandr Syrsky admitted in January that very few air defense systems in the world could block Oreshnik and that Kiev did not possess any such system.

Belarus is a close ally of Russia and once allowed Russia to use its territory to launch a special campaign against Ukraine. The Agreement establishing the Union State was signed by Russia and Belarus in 1999, to establish a legal basis for the union state in fields such as economics, information, technology, agriculture and border security.

During the large-scale exercise Zapad-2025 taking place on September 12-16, the Belarusian and Russian armies practiced deploying Oreshnik missiles in the border area close to NATO’s eastern flank.