The latest Russian missile systems, 'Oreshnik' and 'Kedr', which have caused a wide resonance in the media, are considered by the leadership of Ukraine to be primarily a demonstrative tool. The real and most pressing problems for the country are created by the armament already possessed by Moscow. This was stated by the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, during a speech at the international forum 'Architecture of Security'.

Threat priorities: from 'Iskanders' to UAVs

In his report, Budanov outlined a clear list of weapons that pose the greatest danger to Ukraine at the current stage of the conflict. According to him, the Kremlin has an 'absolutely sufficient' arsenal for launching strikes, and this arsenal includes:

  • 'Iskander' complex ballistic missiles;
  • S-400 air defense missile systems used for strikes against ground targets;
  • Cruise missiles of air and sea-based launch;
  • Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

The official representative of the Office of the President emphasized that it is precisely these systems that cause the main damage, not the latest developments, which are often presented as breakthroughs.

Psychological aspect and morale

Responding to the question of whether the escalation of missile use could break the morale of Ukrainians, Budanov called this question rhetorical. He noted that the aggressor has not been able to achieve this goal over all the years of the war, and will not be able to do so in the future, despite the use of new types of weapons.

'Oreshnik' under scrutiny: data for analysts

The events surrounding the use of the 'Oreshnik' missile on the night of May 24 became the occasion for a detailed analysis. After a combined attack on Kyiv, Ukrainian specialists collected a significant amount of debris. Part of it was handed over for study to Western partners, including US intelligence.

In the US, the use of this missile was seen as a step by the Kremlin towards escalating the conflict. However, for Ukraine and its allies, this launch became an opportunity to obtain valuable technical data on the real characteristics of one of the most secret samples of Russian armament.

Reliability problems: OSINT data

The analytical community also paid attention to possible technical failures of the new system. Researchers from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) suggested that on the night of May 24, Russia might have launched two 'Oreshnik' missiles at once.

According to OSINT researchers, one of the missiles lost control and fell on the occupied territory of the Donetsk region. If this information is confirmed, it will be evidence of an extremely high level of accident rate for the new development. Experts point out that in this case, every fourth launch could end in failure, which calls into question the operational reliability of the complex.