By Musa Mdluli

MBABANE:President Vladimir Putin has said Russia will ramp up the production of a new, hypersonic ballistic missile, SkyNews reported on Saturday.

It has been reported that, in a nationally-televised speech, President Putin said the intermediate-range Oreshnik missile was used in an attack on Ukrainian city Dnipro in retaliation for Ukraine’s use of US and British missiles capable of striking deeper into Russian territory.

“No one in the world has such weapons.Sooner or later other leading countries will also get them.We are aware that they are under development.We have this system now. And this is important,” said the Russian President.

Detailing the missile's alleged capabilities, President Putin said “it is so powerful that using several fitted with conventional warheads in one attack could be as devastating” as a strike with nuclear weapons.

“General Sergei Karakayev, head of Russia's strategic missile forces, said the Oreshnik could reach targets across Europe and be fitted with either nuclear or conventional warheads-while Mr Putin alleged Western air defence systems will not be able to stop the missiles.Mr Putin said of the Oreshnik: "There is no countermeasure to such a missile, no means of intercepting it, in the world today. And I will emphasise once again that we will continue testing this newest system. It is necessary to establish serial production”, reads the SkyNews report.