Forbes: Russians Refuse To Believe Putin's Claims About "Oreshnik"
- 10.06.2026, 17:13
The Kremlin chief announced a deliberate strike on barns.
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin was unexpectedly criticized by some Russian military bloggers following his statements regarding use of the Oreshnik medium-range ballistic missile. As Forbes, the Kremlin leader effectively admitted that during the widely publicized launches, the missiles were not used to destroy important military targets, but to test their own technical characteristics.
In an interview with Russian media, Putin said that the "Oreshnik" strikes were a kind of test under real combat conditions. According to him, the missiles were launched primarily to verify the accuracy of the warheads. For this purpose, targets were allegedly selected whose destruction could be easily recorded and analyzed using drones.
He also stated that after the strikes, Russian drones surveyed the impact sites of the warheads and assessed the results with “millimeter precision.”
On May 24, 2026, Russia launched a large-scale attack on Ukrainian territory, deploying two "Oreshnik" missiles, about 600 drones, and dozens of other missiles of various types.
One of the ballistic missiles fell in the Bila Tserkva area of the Kyiv region. According to available data, the warheads struck the territory of a garage cooperative and an abandoned enterprise.
The second missile struck the temporarily occupied territory of the Donetsk region. There have been no reports of serious damage or significant casualties resulting from these strikes.
Reaction from Russian bloggers
A particularly sharp reaction was triggered by the fact that shortly before Putin’s statement, Russian propagandists and military bloggers had been actively promoting the “Oreshnik” as the latest superweapon capable of inflicting serious damage on Ukrainian military targets.
Following the Russian leader’s remarks, many of them found themselves in an awkward position, as their previous claims had effectively been refuted by the Kremlin itself.
Sarcastic comments began appearing on Russian social media suggesting that the expensive missiles were being used to strike garages, outbuildings, and other targets of no strategic importance.
Experts suggest that the explanation of “deliberate misses” may be an attempt to justify the lack of noticeable results from the use of the new weaponry.
According to one theory, the missiles simply failed to hit their intended targets. According to another, the Kremlin did indeed use extremely expensive munitions solely for demonstration purposes.
“Meanwhile, Ukrainian long-range drones continue to strike targets in the Russian oil industry, and new Ukrainian Fire Point FP-9 ballistic missiles, capable of reaching Moscow, could be deployed as early as this summer. In that case, Russian bloggers will have even more to talk about,” Forbes concludes.