Comprehensive program: Russia will launch mass production of the Oreshnik

The Russian Oreshnik ballistic missile system has proven itself well in combat conditions, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with the best graduates of military universities. The Russian Federation will launch mass production of the missile system. The presence of the "Hazel Tree" makes it clear to the West that Russia is ready to respond to aggression, experts tell Izvestia. In addition, the Russian Federation as a whole will continue to strengthen its security and that of its allied countries, Vladimir Putin stressed. Thus, modern Yars complexes will be supplied to the strategic missile forces. The aviation component of the strategic nuclear forces will be replenished with upgraded Tu-160M missile carriers. And the Navy will include new ships and submarines with high-precision weapons of the latest generation.

What is known about the use of the Oreshnik missile

Russia will launch mass production of the Oreshnik, Vladimir Putin said, speaking to graduates of military universities.

"Serial production of the latest Oreshnik medium—range missile system is underway, which has proven itself very well in combat conditions," the head of state said at an event in the Kremlin.

In November 2024, the Russian leader said that there were no analogues of this missile system in the world, and they would not appear soon. At the same time, it became known about the first use of the Oreshnik missile, the target of the strike was an industrial enterprise in Dnepropetrovsk in Ukraine.

Modern Yars complexes will be supplied to the strategic missile forces, and the upgraded Tu-160M missile carriers will replenish the aviation component of the strategic nuclear forces. The Navy will include new ships and submarines equipped with high-precision weapons of the latest generation, Vladimir Putin said.

This year, it is planned to complete the entire complex of organizational measures for the formation of units and formations of the Moscow and Leningrad military districts. In addition, Marine brigades will be deployed to the division, after which their striking power and combat capabilities will increase.

Also, one of the priorities is the technical modernization of the army and navy, primarily as part of a new large—scale and long-term state armament program, Vladimir Putin stressed.

— Increasing the combat capabilities of all types of the Armed Forces and branches of the Armed Forces remains an urgent task. Thus, due to the increased role of unmanned aerial vehicles in modern conflicts, a new branch of the armed forces is being formed — the troops of unmanned systems," the president added.

According to Vladimir Putin, Russia will continue to take adequate measures to strengthen security.

"Given the growing geopolitical tensions, we will continue to take adequate measures to strengthen the security of Russia and our allies, and develop our Armed Forces as a guarantee of Russia's sovereign and independent development," he said.

It is worth noting that Oreshnik is also in demand abroad. Earlier, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said that he had asked Vladimir Putin to deploy the complex in Belarus. Vladimir Putin noted that this could be done in the second half of 2025.

Why is the West talking about the threat from Russia

According to the President of the Russian Federation, a number of Western politicians at the same time continue to hatch plans to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia. At the upcoming summit of the North Atlantic Alliance, it is planned to announce a large-scale program to increase the capabilities of the bloc. At the same time, they are already spending more on military purposes than all the countries of the world combined, Vladimir Putin stressed.

— Justifying their plans, the leadership of the alliance is once again talking about some kind of threat from Russia, about our possible invasion of Europe. They invented this horror story for themselves and repeat it from year to year in order to deceive their own people and extract money from them," the president says.

The alliance's increased capabilities indicate that the West is preparing for military clashes with Russia, military expert Viktor Litovkin believes.

— NATO is an aggressive bloc that directly calls Russia its enemy. He was created in order to restrain our country and dictate his will to it. In particular, we constantly see powerful military exercises of the North Atlantic Alliance near our borders. This forces Russia to be prepared for their aggression and to take measures to protect its sovereignty and security — to create intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles, deploy them in Europe, and strengthen our strategic and tactical nuclear forces. We now face many tasks to protect ourselves from NATO aggression," he told Izvestia.

The Oreshnik is one of Russia's latest developments in the field of medium-range missile weapons and is designed to enhance defense capabilities. And the advantage of the complex is that it is ready to be put on combat duty, military expert Vadim Kozyulin believes.

— Technologies such as Oreshnik are already available in the West. However, in our case we are talking about a medium—range complex - several thousand kilometers. Today, few countries can shoot at such a distance. For the United States of America, which at one time withdrew from the Intermediate—Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), this is an indicator that Russia has the technology and we are ready to respond to aggression in our direction," he said.

The experience of self-defense is becoming a key advantage of the Russian Armed Forces, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said at a meeting with graduates.

— This year, more than 13,000 officers who have been trained at 39 military universities will join the ranks of the Armed Forces. This is the result of many years of work and efforts by teachers and commanders, thanks to which our army acquires new professionals trained in the best traditions of the Russian military school," he said.

Modern requirements for military personnel have increased dramatically, so it is important for officers to become real mentors for their subordinates, Belousov emphasized.

The courage and heroism of those who carry out their tasks is the standard of military duty, said Sergey Trunin, a graduate of the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, at the meeting. "The Year of Defender of the Fatherland is a tribute of deep respect to the immortal feat of the victorious generation and to all those who today carry out the tasks of a special military operation," he concluded.