Putin Says New Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missile Is As Powerful As Nuclear Weapon

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said Russia's new intermediate-range ballistic missile, called Oreshnik, is as powerful as a nuclear weapon.  

Oreshnik can penetrate underground bunkers and releases dozens of submunitions that “turn everything to dust,” Putin said at the summit in Kazakhstan of a security alliance of former Soviet nations.  The use of several Oreshnik missiles in one strike would be comparable in its devastating power to a nuclear weapon, he claimed.  

"Although Oreshnik is of course not a weapon of mass destruction," Putin added.  

The missile, that launched for the first time at Ukraine last week, has six warheads and flies at 10 times the speed of sound, according to Putin, who also declared that it can't be intercepted by any modern air defense systems.