Russia’s appears to be threatening Ukraine with the hypersonic Oreshnik missile, which Vladimir Putin boasts in its conventional mode has the power of a full nuclear explosion
Vladimir Putin has threatened Kyiv with the biggest strike of the war if drones disrupt his Moscow military parade on Saturday.
His defence ministry warned civilians and diplomats should “leave the city promptly” if Volodymyr Zelensky attacks the Red Square showpiece due to a rapid “massive retaliatory missile strike”.
The Russian warning implies a hit by the hypersonic Oreshnik [Hazel Tree] missile, which Putin boasts in its conventional mode has the power of a full nuclear explosion.
Putin has said previously: “If you use several such systems in one strike at once — two, three, or four systems — it will be comparable in strength to a nuclear strike.”
READ MORE: China fireworks factory explosion kills at least 26 as evacuation orderedREAD MORE: United Airlines flight slams into bakery van at 250km/h in terrifying crash footage
Putin’s favourite newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda warned today that Oreshnik “also has a nuclear configuration”. The Kremlin threat came amid clear alarm in Moscow that Ukraine’s improved drones and missiles pose a major threat.
One report says that Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin’s mausoleum on Red Square will be used to hide VIP spectators at the annual Victory Day parade marking the anniversary defeat of Hitler in the event of a Ukrainian strike. Lenin’s embalmed corpse lies underground in a glass coffin in the vault close to the Kremlin wall. He died in 1924.
Putin announced a unilateral ceasefire covering Friday and Saturday to protect his parade. Zelensky has made clear he will impose a measure from midnight on Tuesday, but will respond “symmetrically” if Putin fails to adhere to it. He earlier taunted Putin that “Ukrainian drones” could “fly at this parade.”
The chilling threat from the Russian Defence ministry stated it “will take all necessary measures to ensure the security” of the parade which is customarily hosted by Putin.
“If the Kyiv regime attempts to implement its criminal plans to disrupt the celebration of the 81st anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, the Russian Armed Forces will launch a massive retaliatory missile strike on the centre of Kyiv. We warn the civilian population of Kyiv and employees of foreign diplomatic missions of the need to leave the city promptly.”
The deadly Oreshnik missile has been used twice in hits on Dnipro and Liviv, but both times reportedly armed with inert or dummy warheads.
Russia has downscaled the parade amid fears of an attack and was planning to use the Lenin Mausoleum as a potential “emergency shelter for the main spectators”, said VChK-OGPU Telegram channel, which has links to the security services.
The war of words over a parade ceasefire comes as Ukraine is gaining the upper hand in both long range strikes and territorial gains. Overnight saw missile warnings in no less than 18 Russian regions, including Khanty-Mansi in Siberia – at least 1,250 miles from the nearest territory.
Ukraine used its domestically-made Flamingo missiles and drones to strike and damage defence plant VNIIR-Progress, which makes vital electronics including navigation modules for Russian missiles and drones, in Cheboksary, a distance of some 600 miles.
Kyiv’s drones hit the Kirishi Oil and Gas Processing Plant in Russia’s Leningrad region, around 520 miles away, igniting it in an inferno. Both are further than Moscow if Zelensky decides to defy Putin and launch a strike at the parade.
A Russian missile and drone strike on Ukraine’s Poltava region missiles and drones attacked an industrial enterprise and gas extraction facility, killing four, and wounding 31.
Among the dead were Viktor Kuzmenko, deputy chief of the Deputy Operational Coordination Centre in Poltava, and firefighter-rescuer Dmytro Skryl. Putin is so desperate for a show at the parade in Moscow that he is removing soldiers from the frontline to march across Red Square, according to the Atesh paramilitary group.
“They are being relocated to the rear for rehearsals and preparations for the show in Moscow, leaving the frontline positions in the hands of those who remain — the weak, the wounded, and the unprepared,” said a Telegram post. “The frontline is being held by a ‘reserve’ of those who are barely capable of fighting, leading to complete chaos.”
In April, the territory held by Russia in Ukraine has reduced by 46 square miles despite the loss of 30,000 Putin fighters. The “unstoppable” Oreshnik system — introduced in late 2024 with a strike on Dnipro — is described by Russian sources as a mobile, medium-range ballistic missile system with multiple independently targetable warheads.
Moscow has previously claimed there are no effective countermeasures against Oreshnik-type missiles. In January 2026, Putin unleashed 8,000 mph Oreshnik in a strike on the outskirts of Ukrainian city Lviv, just 40 miles from NATO and EU territory in Poland.
Putin claims targets are incinerated by conventional Oreshnik unleashing a temperature of 4,000°C, almost as hot as the surface of the sun.
