Russian President Vladimir Putin announced today that the first batch of mass-produced Oreshnik ballistic missile complexes is already in service with the Russian army, Reuters reported.
""Mass production is already underway. The first mass-produced Oreshnik missile complex is already at the disposal of the Russian troops," the Russian leader said, quoted by TASS.
At his joint press conference with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko on Valaam Island in Lake Ladoga (in the autonomous republic of Karelia), the Russian head of state also said that the issue of deploying Oreshnik missiles in Belarus will be concluded by the end of the year, TASS noted.
"Our specialists - and Belarusian military specialists, and Russian ones - have chosen places for future missile launchers. Work is currently underway to prepare these positions," explained the Russian president.
On the other hand, Putin announced that Russian forces were advancing along the entire front line in Ukraine despite the West's desire for Moscow to stop its offensive, Reuters reported.
He said that a few days ago the Russian army had captured the town of Chasov Yar in the Ukrainian Donetsk region - a claim that Kiev has already denied.
"We have already heard that this "does not correspond to reality". I can say that this fully corresponds to reality," Putin said. According to him, such statements show that "the political leadership of Ukraine is not very informed about the events taking place". In Donbas, Russia "is not conquering what is foreign", but "is regaining its own," concluded the Russian president, quoted by TASS.