Please Pray for Peace.
Yesterday it was reported that Russia had responded to the firing of British and American missiles into Russian territory with a non-nuclear ‘Rubezh’ ICMB [Intercontinental Ballistic Missile.]
In a video 21 November 2024, Putin confirmed that the missile used was indeed a new missile system — the 9M729 Oreshnik which now has been successfully tested in a combat environment. Oreschnik (“Hazel”) is a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM). Putin claims it has a speed of Mach 10 [12,300 km/h; 7,610 mph; 3.40 km/s] which makes it very difficult to intercept. Apparently, it carried a MIRV payload [multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle] which can also be used for multiple nuclear weapons.
It is reported that the missile was launched from the Astrakhan Oblast, likely from the base at Kapustin Yar. This is about 800 km from Dnipro — likely beyond the range of Ukrainian/American/British missile systems.
It looks like NATO is specifically exacerbating the situation and is likely to escalate further unless cooler heads prevail.
Please Pray for Peace.
Kevin Hay