Mr. Lukashenko: Belarus is about to receive Oreshnik missiles

Speaking at a press conference on January 26 while Belarus was holding a presidential election, Mr. Lukashenko said the Oreshnik missile would be deployed “near Smolensk”. This is a Russian city located about 60 km east of the Belarus border. However, he did not rule out the possibility that it could be placed in another location later.

“We will have Oreshnik soon, probably within a few days. We have agreed with President Vladimir Putin that the upcoming system will be delivered to Belarus even earlier than to Russia,” he said.

When asked to confirm the delivery timeline, President Lukashenko admitted that no exact date has been agreed upon yet. He also explained that the choice of deployment location should be based on the missile’s technical specifications.

“It’s bad when your target is very close. But even if they are very far away, the missile can carry a smaller payload,” he said.

President Lukashenko said he initially said Belarus wanted to receive at least 10 Oreshnik missile systems, but he admitted that a transfer on such a scale is very difficult for economic reasons, especially when Russia also needs it. Deploy Oreshnik.

“One Oreshnik is enough to defend Belarus,” he added.

Ballistic missiles carrying hypersonic warheads Oreshnik were used by Russia for the first time in a raid on the city of Dnipro, central Ukraine, on November 21, 2024. The move was in response to Ukraine launching long-range ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles provided by the West deep into Russian territory.

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 projectile also applies multi-target independent attack reentry vehicle (MIRV) technology, allowing each missile to carry up to 36 warheads.

Russian President Vladimir Putin affirmed that no Western air defense system can stop Oreshnik. Ukrainian Army Commander Oleksandr Syrsky also admitted on January 19 that the country does not yet possess weapons that can stop this missile.