Russia launched an Oreshnik missile at Ukraine to send a strategic message to the West, and the Russian Federation most likely has only a few such missiles, they are just preparing for serial production, the Ministry of Defense of Great Britain and Northern Ireland reports, citing intelligence data.

“The use of this experimental system against Ukraine was almost certainly intended as strategic messaging following the use by Ukraine of Western missiles into Russia,” the Ministry of Defense said on the social network X on Friday.

According to analysts, Russia highly likely only has a handful of Oreshnik missiles, which are yet to enter serial production. This missile is highly likely to be far more expensive than other missiles Russia is currently using against Ukraine.

The system is highly likely a variant of the Rubezh RS-26 ballistic missile, which was first tested in 2011.