Russia should strike Ukraine using the Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile, said Andrey Kartapolov, head of Russia’s State Duma Defense Committee, on March 11.
The call for action comes in response to what seems to be the largest Ukrainian drone attack since the start of the full-scale war.
"The decision is up to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief (Russian President Vladimir Putin), but I think it would not be unreasonable (to launch the Oreshnik), better even more than one,” Kartapolov said, as quoted by Russian state-owned news agency TASS.
Kartapolov’s comments follow reports from Russia’s Defense Ministry that its air defenses intercepted a wave of 337 drones across multiple regions, with 74 reportedly shot down on approach to Moscow.
In turn, Ukraine’s Air Force reported intercepting 79 of the 126 Russian drones and one Iskander-M ballistic missile launched the same night. Russia conducts daily strikes on Ukraine using missiles, drones, and guided bombs.
Russia has launched the Oreshnik missile against Ukraine once before, striking Dnipro in November 2024 after Kyiv successfully used U.S.-supplied ATACMS missiles to hit a military target on Russian soil.
Putin described the Oreshnik strike as a response to Ukraine’s use of Western long-range weapons to strike inside Russia.
While Putin announced plans for mass production of the Oreshnik, a U.S. official told the Kyiv Independent that Russia likely possessed only a small number of these experimental missiles.
Following the November strike, the Moscow Times reported that the Kremlin staged a media blitz around the attack, citing Russian officials who said the campaign was designed to intimidate the West and deter further arms deliveries to Ukraine.
Volodymyr Ivanyshyn
