US warns Russia may be ready to use new lethal missile against Ukraine again in 'coming days'

FILE - Journalists at a center for forensic analysis in undisclosed location in Ukraine on Nov. 24, 2024, film fragments of what authorities in Kyiv described as a Russian hypersonic missile that struck a factory in Dnipro, Ukraine, on Nov. 21. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. intelligence assessment has concluded that Russia may use its lethal new intermediate-range ballistic missile against Ukraine again in “coming days,” a U.S. official said Wednesday.

The experimental Oreshnik missile is seen by U.S. officials more as an attempt at intimidation than a game-changer on the battlefield in Ukraine, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive information.

The official said Russia has only a handful of the missiles and that they carry a smaller warhead than other missiles that Russia has regularly launched at Ukraine.

Aamer Madhani, The Associated Press

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