Russian strike with Oreshnik missile is political signal – Estonian Defence Ministry

The Estonian Ministry of Defence views the Russian medium-range ballistic missile strike, dubbed Oreshnik by Vladimir Putin, to be a political signal.

As reported by ERR, Gert Kaju, head of defence capabilities at the Estonian Ministry of Defense, recalled a Russian propaganda release that said the Oreshnik strike was carried out in response to Ukraine's use of Western Storm Shadow and ATACMS missiles against Russian sites.

He emphasised that in Russia’s case, we are dealing with "something that has not been used before, a completely different weapon system".

"Whether it will be followed by the use of anything similar remains to be seen, but it is more likely to be to send a political message, because intercontinental ballistic missiles are significantly more expensive than the other weapon systems that are being used on a daily basis," the Estonian Ministry of Defence representative added.

According to the Estonian Defence Ministry, fighting continues throughout the whole combat zone in Ukraine, and Russian forces are advancing despite enormous losses – in certain cases, one killed for every metre of captured territory.

Kyiv has iniated a meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Council to consider the ramifications of the most recent medium-range ballistic missile strike on the city of Dnipro.

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský believes the recent Russian Oreshnik strike on Dnipro was primarily to intimidate the civilian population.