Military and political circles in the West were shocked by the combat use of the Russian Oreshnik medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM). This was stated by the Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergei Naryshkin.
The reaction in both military and political circles in the West was overwhelming.
Naryshkin added that the successful completion of tests of the Poseidon underwater drone and the Burevestnik cruise missile with a nuclear power plant also made a serious impression abroad.
Most politicians, military personnel, and experts in the West did not expect that Russia would be able to create such advanced weapons systems in such a relatively short time.
As a reminder, Oreshnik was used twice - in November 2024 and in January 2026. In both cases, it was about non-nuclear hypersonic equipment.
The successful testing of Burevestnik and Poseidon became known in November 2025.
Read more materials on the topic:
- Burevestnik and Poseidon began to be developed back in the 1940s
- The inability of the American THAAD missile defense system to intercept the Russian Oreshnik has been revealed: only 7% probability
- Admiral: the launch of the Khabarovsk submarine means the start of the functioning of the nuclear Poseidon
