Why the Russian Oreshnik strike caused shocks to NATO - Britain:

[Wiz]

NATO hawks who wanted strikes with ATACMS and Storm Shadow received a strong response from Russia with the use of the Oreshnik hypersonic missile and for this reason they fell silent

On November 21, 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin held the West accountable while at the same time surprising it.

Putin made it clear that in any new escalation by the West, Russia will strike NATO facilities anywhere in Europe with hypersonic weapons that the North Atlantic Alliance does not have and has never seen before.

By Monday, November 18, the Western media was dominated by war hawks urging Biden and other Western leaders to free Zelensky's hand to use longer-range weapons to strike deep inside Russia.

According to Proud, the Russian strategy aims to de-escalate by dominating each rung of the escalation ladder.

Since the beginning of the Ukraine crisis in 2014, Russia has sought to dominate each step up the escalation ladder.

The annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the special operation in Ukraine in February 2022 were significant moves by Russia, to which NATO did not respond in kind.

This strategy is also visible in the diplomatic sphere.

For example, Moscow escalated a dispute with the US in 2017 when it expelled 755 American diplomatic staff from Russia.

According to the British diplomat, when Russia escalates a situation, it is simultaneously confident that its adversary will not climb another rung higher on the escalation ladder.

Why Russia Will Prevail

Recent events demonstrate that Russia will prevail against a divided and morally weak Western alliance when the time comes.

Russia has something the West does not have - the sovereignty and the political will to act unilaterally.

Putin has been criticized by hardliners in Russia for not responding to the gradual increase in military aid to Ukraine from the West.

As previously mentioned, obtaining permission from Ukraine to use ATACMS for strikes deep into Russia would leave Putin no choice but to respond, as he had stated in September that he would do.

So on November 21, Russia launched the Oreshnik hypersonic missile at a well-fortified Ukrainian weapons facility in Dnipropetrovsk.

This is the first time that an intermediate-range ballistic missile has been used in combat.

Second, carefully described by Putin as a "test," the Oreshnik is a weapon far more powerful than those the West has allowed Ukraine to use, namely the ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles.

It also surpasses the capabilities of the Tomahawk cruise missiles that Zelensky so fervently desires.

Putin has left the door open for further "tests" of the Oreshnik.

The US, UK and others face the prospect of Ukraine receiving new crushing blows from the Oreshnik or other hypersonic weapons that NATO and the collective West have never seen before.

At the same time, Ukraine continues to lose the battle for Donetsk.

Third, the Oreshnik has a range 16 times greater than the ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles.

This puts any NATO targets in Europe within the range of a conventional strike.
Furthermore, the destruction of valuable Western facilities at Yuzhmash has also satisfied the hardliners in the Kremlin, as Russia has taken a decisive step towards escalating tensions.

Putin has also sent a clear message to military planners in the US and UK who supported the development of ATACMS that a NATO facility could well be the next target.


from www.bankingnews.gr