Russia may target Ukraine with another Oreshnik missile 'in coming days'-- US officials

WASHINGTON — Russia may soon target Ukraine with another of its new hypersonic Oreshnik missiles, two US officials said on Wednesday, after Moscow first used one of the weapons in a strike last month.

"Russia has signaled its intent to launch another experimental Oreshnik missile at Ukraine, potentially in the coming days," one official said on condition of anonymity.

"However, this missile is not a battlefield game-changer but an effort to intimidate Ukraine and its allies. The Oreshnik, with its smaller warhead and limited availability, is unlikely to alter the course of the conflict," the official said.

A second US official likewise downplayed the missile's potential impact, saying Moscow only has a limited supply.

"Russia wants to use this weapon to intimidate Ukraine and its supporters, but the reality is that Russia likely possesses only a handful of these experimental missiles," the official said.

Putin unveiled the nuclear-capable weapon last month after using it to strike the city of Dnipro in central Ukraine, sharply escalating tensions in the almost three-year-long conflict.

The United States has spearheaded the push for international support for Ukraine, quickly forging a coalition to back Kyiv after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022 and coordinating aid from dozens of countries.

Meanwhile, Ukraine attacked Russian border regions with missiles and drones early Wednesday, sparking a fire at an oil depot and damaging an "industrial facility", officials said.

Two separate attacks targeted Russia's southern Rostov region and western Bryansk region, both of which have been hit by cross-border Ukrainian fire throughout Moscow's nearly three-year invasion.

Videos purportedly taken in the Bryansk region showed a distant fireball illuminating the night sky over an urban area, while air raid sirens could be heard in footage from the southern Rostov region.

Kyiv said it struck an oil depot being used to "supply the Russian occupation army" in the Bryansk region, while the governor of Russia's Rostov region said a Ukrainian missile attack damaged an "industrial enterprise" in the port city of Taganrog.

The Russian governor of the Bryansk region, Alexander Bogomaz, said that Ukraine had attacked a "production facility" with drones but that the blaze had since been extinguished.

Refineries and oil depots are a huge driving force behind Russia's economy, with some facilities being given their own air defence systems to ward off attacks.

Major companies have redirected oil to sites further away from Ukraine, as some Ukrainian drone strikes have reached hundreds of kilometres into Russian territory.

Ukraine says its attacks are "fair" retaliation for Moscow's strikes on its own energy infrastructure that have cut power to millions of people.