Moscow’s new weapon could be used to hit Vladimir Zelensky’s HQ in Kiev, Aleksey Zhuravlyov said
Moscow could use its brand new Oreshnik ballistic missile to strike Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky’s office in Kiev, a senior Russian legislator, Aleksey Zhuravlyov, has said.
Russia revealed Oreshnik to the world on November 21, when it was used to hit a weapons factory in the Ukrainian city of Dnepr. President Vladimir Putin said the strike was a response to Ukrainian attacks deep inside Russia with Western-supplied missiles, such as ATACMS and Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG.
“I’m confident that the Russian Defense Ministry has already compiled a list of worthy targets on the territory of Ukraine,” Zhuravlyov, who is the first deputy chair of the parliamentary defense committee, wrote on his Telegram channel on Thursday.
“There is the presidential office on Bankovaya Street [in Kiev], where Zelensky was hiding in a bunker during the first days [of the conflict]. I’m even curious whether Oreshnik can destroy this impenetrable bunker,” he wrote.
Zhuravlyov said that the headquarters of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army in Kiev could be a suitable target.
He added that Russia should strike “logistics hubs for Western weapons in Lviv Region, the Yavorov Military Base, where Western mercenaries are being trained, the bridges across the Dnieper used to transport equipment to the front line.”
Putin said this week that potential Oreshnik targets include military sites, defense factories, and “decision-making centers in Kiev.”
At a press conference during his trip to Kazakhstan on Thursday, Putin described the missile as an extraordinarily powerful weapon, comparing its effects to an impact of a large meteorite. “Anything located in the epicenter is reduced to dust,” he said.
Outgoing US President Joe Biden officially lifted the restrictions on the use of ATACMS by Ukraine earlier this month. Putin described the move as a dangerous escalation that “changes the nature” of the conflict. He has argued that sophisticated missiles, such as ATACMS, cannot be fired without involvement of Western personnel, which is tantamount to NATO’s direct participation in the conflict.
