Russia’s Oreshnik IRBM, exceeding Mach 10, delivers MIRVs with submunitions, making interception difficult.

The Pentagon says the Oreshnik is a tweak of Russia’s RS-26 Rubezh missile, an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that has been tested since 2011.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address that the attack was a test of Russia's "newest missile," an IRBM called "Oreshnik."

Russia named the missile the Oreshnik, or hazel tree, and said it is impossible to intercept it with air defenses.

President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Russia will continue to test and start mass-producing the hypersonic ballistic missile that it fired at Ukraine Thursday.

This is the first time Russia has used its so-called Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile in combat. The launch also serves as a warning to the West.

Russia fired a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Thursday in response to the U.S. and UK's allowing Kyiv to strike Russian territory with advanced Western weapons,

The escalatory attack comes after Ukraine reportedly used US and UK long range missiles to strike targets inside Russia

Ukraine's air force said it shot down 22 of 28 Russian drones in Moscow's overnight barrage, though acknowledged "several hits on critical infrastructure facilities."

Russian Navy frigates equipped with new-generation hypersonic cruise missiles have conducted drills in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, according to the Russian Defence Ministry. The crews of the frigates fired Zircon (Tsirkon) hypersonic anti-ship missiles,