Russia's 40-Ton Non-Nuclear ICBM May Have Been Aiming At Ukraine's MiG-29 Factory
The Lviv State Aviation Repair Plant repairs the Ukrainian air force's most important jets
When Russia launched an Oreshnik ICBM at western Ukraine on Thursday night, the target apparently wasn’t an underground natural gas storage site near the city of Lviv, as some observers initially believed.
Instead, it may have been the Lviv State Aircraft Repair Plant. And if so, the targeting makes sense. The Lviv plant repairs the Ukrainian air force’s Mikoyan MiG-29s—potentially still its most numerous warplanes, and most flexible.
The Oreshnik—effectively a 40-ton RS-26 intercontinental ballistic missile with a non-nuclear payload including several separate kinetic warheads—streaked down on Lviv shortly after Russian officials reportedly warned American officials they were about to launch a missile with the profile of a nuclear-tipped ICBM.
Previously, an Oreshnik struck Dnipro in eastern Ukraine in November 2024.
The Oreshnik’s independent reentry vehicles partially turn into plasma as they streak down at hypersonic speed. Footage from Lviv on Thursday night depicts several of the brightly burning warheads penetrating the clouds and striking the ground.
