RUSSIA: Putin's Claims On Frequent IRBM Use May Not Prove Feasible

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been addressing a session of the CSTO Collective Security Council in Astana, Kazakhstan, and speaking about the use of the intermediate-range 'Oreshnik' ballistic missile (IRBM) against the Ukrainian city of Dnipro last week. Putin: "Russia will respond to ongoing Western strikes with long-range weapons, including possible continued combat testing of the Oreshnik...Russia has several ready-to-use Oreshnik missile systems." 

• Says "According to military and technical experts, in the event of a massive group use of these missiles, that is, several Oreshnik missiles in a cluster in one strike, its power, the power of this strike, will be comparable to the use of nuclear weapons." He goes on to clarify that the IRBM is "not a weapon of mass destruction, it is a high-precision weapon, it does not have a nuclear charge."
• The claims from Putin regarding putting the Oreshnik into regular use may not prove feasible. Each missile is believed to cost tens of millions of US dollars, making their mass use overwhelmingly costly at a time when the Russian economy is showing increasing signs of strain.
• Moreover, their regular use would risk catastrophic retaliation by the US in the case of miscalculation. Russia issued a warning to the US ahead of the Oreshnik's launch last week. However, the more often that IRBMs are used the greater the prospect of error or miscalculation that sees a warning go awry. This would risk the US and NATO thinking that Russia has potentially launched a nuclear warhead.