MINSK, 11 December (BelTA) – When Donald Trump decided to withdraw the United States from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in his first presidential term, Russia was able to finish work on the RS-26 Rubezh missile, modifying it to the Oreshnik, the independent military analyst Aleksandr Alesin said in the latest episode of the V Teme [On Point] project on BelTA's YouTube channel.
According to the analyst, the Oreshnik may be a tweak of Russia's strategic ballistic missile RS-26 Rubezh. But Russia suspended work on the production of this system because at that time the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was still in force.
"But Trump ‘came to the rescue’ and simply terminated the agreement on short range and intermediate range ballistic missiles. In other words, Russia became free of obligations and could have intermediate range and short range missiles in service," Aleksandr Alesin said.
In his words, from that moment Russia began modernizing the RS-26 Rubezh. The Oreshnik became a new version of this missile. "Obviously, the first two stages were those of the RS-26; the third stage was new. This is the reason why this missile came as unexpected news for the whole world. Although it is known that designing a new missile system takes ten years on average," he emphasized.
Thus, when Russia was ready, it launched a strike with the Oreshnik against the Yuzhmash plant in Dnepropetrovsk, Aleksandr Alesin added.
"But Trump ‘came to the rescue’ and simply terminated the agreement on short range and intermediate range ballistic missiles. In other words, Russia became free of obligations and could have intermediate range and short range missiles in service," Aleksandr Alesin said.
In his words, from that moment Russia began modernizing the RS-26 Rubezh. The Oreshnik became a new version of this missile. "Obviously, the first two stages were those of the RS-26; the third stage was new. This is the reason why this missile came as unexpected news for the whole world. Although it is known that designing a new missile system takes ten years on average," he emphasized.
Thus, when Russia was ready, it launched a strike with the Oreshnik against the Yuzhmash plant in Dnepropetrovsk, Aleksandr Alesin added.
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