Putin Says Oreshnik As Powerful as Nuclear Weapon, Can Turn Everything Into Dust

Astana: The Russian President Vladimir Putin , while speaking speaking at the meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) on Thursday, said that Russia's new intermediate-range ballistic missile, Oreshnik, possesses power comparable to that of a nuclear weapon.

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

“Dozens of warheads, self-guided units attack the target at a speed of 10 Mach. This is about three kilometers per second. The temperature of the striking elements reaches 4000 degrees. If my memory serves me right, the temperature on the surface of the Sun is 5,500-6000 degrees. Therefore, everything that is in the epicenter of the explosion is divided into fractions, into elementary particles, everything turns essentially into dust.” Putin said.

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

"The missile can hit even highly protected and deep-lying targets. According to military and technical experts, in the case of a massive group use of this missile, that is, several areas at once in one strike, the power of this strike will be comparable to the use of nuclear weapons. Although Oreshnik is of course not a weapon of mass destruction." Putin added.

Oreshnik was used for the first time against Ukraine last week, It has six warheads and flies at 10 times the speed of sound.

Putin also declared that it can't be intercepted by any modern air defense systems.

(with agency inputs)