how the West reacted to Russia’s test of the Oreshnik missile system – Teller Report Teller Report in Russian

Western media reacted violently to the test of the new Russian medium-range missile system Oreshnik, which the Russian Armed Forces used to hit the Ukrainian defense enterprise Yuzhmash in Dnepropetrovsk.

“During an emergency televised address to the nation, the Russian president appeared to directly threaten the US and UK, which earlier this week allowed Ukraine to fire Western-made ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles at Russia,” The Guardian writes.

On November 21, the Russian leader announced the successful defeat of the Oreshnik target, noting that existing missile defense systems are not capable of intercepting a missile of this type.

“By using the new missile, Russia sent a threatening message to the West,” The New York Times said.

The publication drew attention to the fact that Oreshnik was not a carrier of a nuclear warhead, but is part of the strategic arsenal capable of delivering it. In this regard, according to officials and military analysts, this is a warning “designed to instill fear in Kyiv and its allies,” the newspaper notes.

“What they would like to tell us today is, ‘Yesterday’s strike was from a missile without a nuclear warhead, but, you know, if you continue… the next strike could be nuclear,'” Fabian Hoffman, a weapons expert at the University of Oslo, told the NYT.

In turn, Tom Karako, a senior researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies*, in a comment to the newspaper noted that in comparison with other Russian missiles such as Iskander and Kh-101, not only the Oreshnik’s flight range is “alarming,” but also its the ability to launch multiple nuclear warheads upon entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.

“(This. – RT) rattling of nuclear weapons, aimed both at Ukraine and at Europe itself. This is a rather sharp signal,” the analyst believes.

The Financial Times regarded the Russian rocket launch as a demonstration of its ability to be one step ahead of the West. In The The Mirror called the missile test a “warning shot” indicating the risk of a third world war. And the Associated Press, citing an expert, admitted that even advanced American Patriot systems are “quite difficult to defend against” missiles like Oreshnik.

“It’s really a signal to the West: ‘We’re happy to enter the medium-range ballistic missile competition.’ And yes, they can carry a nuclear charge. Do you really want to take that risk?” — Matthew Saville, director of military science at the Royal United Institute for Defense Studies, explained to the agency.

Meanwhile, The American Conservative said that Ukraine should have heeded the warning of American General Mark Milley, who had previously emphasized the need to begin negotiations with Russia.

“Kyiv should have seized the opportunity that arose at the end of 2022… As of now, Ukraine is not capable of maintaining a long-term conflict, and there is no incentive for an all-out war between NATO and Russia. The continuation of this conflict will lead to the unnecessary death of many thousands of people and the escalation of the conflict with NATO,” the publication stated.

“Not empty words”

Let us recall that on November 21, Vladimir Putin announced in a televised address about a combined strike on a Ukrainian defense industry facility in Dnepropetrovsk. In particular, one of the newest Russian medium-range missile systems, Oreshnik, with non-nuclear hypersonic equipment, was tested in combat conditions. According to him, this was a response to the aggressive actions of NATO countries towards Russia. In particular, the use of American and British long-range weapons on the territory of the Russian Federation. At the same time, the head of the Russian Federation emphasized that the use of such Western weapons by Kiev will not change the course of hostilities in the zone of the special military operation.

Putin noted that Russia now considers itself to have the right to use its weapons against military facilities of those countries “that allow the use of their weapons against our facilities.” At the same time, he emphasized that Moscow will warn the civilian population of Ukraine if it plans new attacks with systems such as Oreshnik. And opposition from the enemy in this case will still be impossible, the Russian leader clarified.

In the United States, the Oreshnik tests caused serious concern.

“This certainly worries us. I cannot yet assess the impact (of the impact. – RT), but this definitely worries us,” Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said at a briefing.

At the same time, the White House again tried to accuse Russia of trying to escalate the Ukrainian conflict.

In turn, Europe declared the need to take the Russian leader’s warnings seriously.

“If in Russia the president says something, then these are not empty words. This is not a communication ploy,” TASS quotes Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban as saying on the Kossuth radio station.

In this regard, Orban advised countries that provide military assistance to Ukraine to exercise prudence in order to avoid further problems.

Meanwhile, the head of the Kyiv regime, Vladimir Zelensky, has already called on his sponsors to respond to the Russian missile strike.

“Right now there is no strong reaction from the world. Putin is very sensitive to this. He is checking you, dear partners,” STRANA.ua quotes his statement.

According to him, the Russian Federation supposedly “must be put under pressure” and forced to peace, “which is only possible through force.”

“Words do not differ from deeds”

State Duma deputy Oleg Matveychev, in a conversation with RT, called the West’s violent reaction to the test of a Russian medium-range missile a hysteria, which Kyiv’s allies always throw when Russia defends its interests.

“No matter what we do, it’s always bad. At the same time, the West does not tolerate criticism of itself. Therefore, there is no point in somehow focusing on his opinion. The Kremlin has shown that we have the ability to strike in such a way that the West will only miss blows. And we showed that our words do not differ from our deeds. They promised an answer – and they gave it,” he noted.

In turn, military expert Alexander Shirokorad noted that the Oreshnik test was the world’s first combat use of medium-range ballistic missiles.

“This has never happened before. And now you see the successful application of this system. The plant, which was built to produce missiles back in Soviet times, was hit. It was one of the largest institutions of the Union’s military-industrial complex. I believe that the target was the underground workshops of the enterprise, where the Ukrainians repaired their equipment and manufactured drones,” the analyst explained.

According to him, the target was wisely chosen in order to destroy both the military plant and send a signal to the West.

“Notable is Putin’s warning that military facilities on the territory of Kyiv’s allies could now become legal targets for Russia. First of all, this could be the Polish airport Rzeszow, through which military aid is supplied to Kyiv. There are huge weapons depots there. From there, Ukraine is supplied with long-range missiles, among other things. So in Poland this will be Russia’s number one goal,” the expert said.

Vadim Kozyulin, chief researcher at the Center for Military-Political Studies of the IAMP of the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry, also called the launch of Oreshnik a warning to the West.

“Obviously, this is a signal, first of all, to Washington: we will not leave all its actions within the framework of the Ukrainian conflict unanswered. A decree of the Russian president on the fundamentals of state policy in the field of nuclear deterrence has already been published, but comments in the Western press on this matter were quite skeptical. That signal was received with irony in the United States. And now the Kremlin has shown that it was in vain,” the analyst said in a commentary to RT.

According to him, the West should take Russia’s steps to uphold its principles with all seriousness.

“Response actions on the part of Kyiv could lead to irreversible consequences on the road to a third world war. Considering that there are almost no “steps” left on the escalation ladder, we can assume that the next step will only be a decision to send NATO soldiers to Ukraine. But given how Russian troops are grinding up the Armed Forces of Ukraine, there will be few people willing to send their citizens to slaughter,” Kozyulin believes.

However, as Alexei Zhuravlev, First Deputy Chairman of the Defense Committee, recalled in a conversation with RT, Ukraine is only a tool to confront the West with Russia. At the same time, the Russian Federation, unlike Kyiv’s allies, still has many types of weapons that were not used during the Northern Military District and which could unpleasantly surprise Moscow’s opponents, the deputy emphasized.

“The confrontation with the West is going on in all directions, and it will continue until our president sits down with the same Trump and makes a new “Yalta”, where the rules of the game for the coming decades will be determined. Then the confrontation will end. At the moment, the move is up to the West. We said everything about what would happen, how we would react. If you don’t understand this, you have to be a complete idiot. I hope that at least someone there is of sound mind and good memory and will stop escalating this conflict,” Zhuravlev concluded.