US warns experimental Russian missile may be used against Ukraine soon

Russia could soon launch another attack against Ukraine using an experimental intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), according to a U.S. official.

The official said that Russia could fire its Oreshnik IRBM at Ukraine "in the coming days" in an attempt to intimidate Ukraine and its supporters.

"We assess that the Oreshnik is not a game-changer on the battlefield, but rather just another attempt by Russia to terrorize Ukraine, which will fail," the official said.

Russia only has a handful of the Oreshnik missiles, which carry a smaller warhead than other missiles that are regularly fired at Ukraine, the person added.

"Ukraine has withstood all of Russia’s previous missile attacks, and Ukraine will withstand any future use of Oreshnik," the official said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced last month that his forces had fired Oreshnik for the first time, a move that came just days after the U.S. allowed Ukraine to fire long-range missiles into Russia.

The missile launch struck a military command center in Ukraine, Putin claimed, saying the missile could reach speeds of Mach 10, or more than 7,000 mph.

IRBMs can reach targets up to 3,500 miles away.

The Biden administration is pushing to get Ukraine the last of some $5 billion into Ukraine before President-elect Trump takes office in January.

The official said Wednesday that they were focused on shipping more air defense missiles to Ukraine so Kyiv can "respond to the full range of Russian missiles and drones."

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