The examination of the fragments of the medium-range ballistic missile "Oreshnik," which struck Dnipro on November 21, revealed that Russian dictator Putin lied when he claimed it was a brand-new development just created.
One of the components of the "Oreshnik" was found to have a serial number and a production date of April 12, 2017. The fact that this missile utilizes a part that is over 7 years old clearly indicates that this specific "Oreshnik" was assembled around 2017-2018. This suggests that the missile has been stored since that time. A relevant photo was obtained by Defense Express from its own sources.
It should be noted that 2017 aligned with plans to begin serial production of the RS-26 "Rubezh," which is believed to be the true name of the "Oreshnik." However, in March 2018, a decision was allegedly made in Moscow to cancel the supply of RS-26 to the armed forces. This also implies that the development of the "Oreshnik" began much earlier, as 2017 was the year of production for a specific component. It seems that the design of this missile likely started in the early 2010s, if not earlier.
Attention should also be drawn to the component index - "EFIT 302811.002." The name "EFIT" is directly associated with the Russian rocket and space enterprise NPCAAP ("Scientific Production Center for Automation and Instrument Engineering named after Academician N. A. Pilyugin"), which is part of "Roscosmos." This organization develops control systems for missile complexes: "Zenit," "Proton-M," and the upper stage "Frigate." Specifically, for the "Zenit" missile, the system has the index "EFIT 377513.008," and for the upper stage "Frigate" - "EFIT 378111.003."
It is known that NPCAAP also developed the control system for the intercontinental missile "Topol-M." Additionally, a mention was found regarding the control system for the upper stage EFIT 373868.064 for the Russian Ministry of Defense. This is referenced in the ruling of the Arbitration Court of the Moscow Region No. A41-96126/22 dated July 21, 2023. It was intended for the space warhead of the product with the index 14P422 (the name could not be found).
Thus, everything indicates that NPCAAP is responsible for supplying control equipment to the "Oreshnik," the entire missile, or the separation block of the warheads or the last stage of this missile. Ultimately, this is quite expected, as there is a hypothesis that the creation of this missile in Russia followed a principle of assembly from ready-made elements, and "Oreshnik" or "Kedr" is a result of a combination of stages from the intercontinental missile "Yars", which is a modernization of "Topol."
Ultimately, the existence of a control system for a medium-range ballistic missile in Russia in 2017 once again proves that the Kremlin actively violated the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with the United States, not only with missiles for the "Iskander" but also with this development.
Considering that the analysis of the missile fragments, which Russia used to strike, is ongoing, it is quite possible to expect other rather interesting research results.