Putin threatens to hit Kyiv with Oreshnik missiles and praises Trump

Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to strike the Ukrainian capital Kyiv with recently unveiled Oreshnik missiles, as he praised US President-elect Donald Trump as “quite clever and experienced.” 

“We do not exclude the use of Oreshnik against the military, military industry facilities or the decision-making centre, including in Kyiv,” Putin said at a press conference in Kazakhstan on Thursday. 

The Oreshnik missile, launched for the first time targeting Ukraine last week, carries six warheads and can travel at 10 times the speed of sound, according to Putin, who also claimed it cannot be intercepted by any modern air defence systems.

The use of several Oreshnik missiles in one strike would be comparable in its devastating power to a nuclear weapon, he said.

Oreshnik can penetrate underground bunkers and release dozens of submunitions that “turn everything to dust,” Putin said at the summit in Kazakhstan of a security alliance of former Soviet nations. 

“Although Oreshnik is of course not a weapon of mass destruction,” Putin added. 

The Russian president suggested that the US decision to allow Ukraine to strike Russia with longer-range missiles might be intended to make it harder for the next US administration to negotiate a peace deal.

He hailed incoming US President Donald Trump as a “clever and experienced” leader, voicing confidence that he would be able to find a solution given that he “has tackled such a challenge as reclaiming the White House.” 

Trump has previously claimed he could end the war in Ukraine “in one day” but some who have fled the country are less than confident about the future.