Russia’s much-publicized Oreshnik missile program may be suffering from critical technical failures, causing missiles to miss targets by tens of kilometers. According to a new investigation published on Tuesday by Dallas Analytics, a Ukrainian private intelligence and data analysis firm, the Kremlin’s newest intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) is affected by major guidance system defects linked to production bottlenecks and reliance on outdated Soviet-era components.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Russian leader Vladimir Putin used the Oreshnik in its debut strike on central Ukraine’s Dnipro in November 2024, presenting the missile as proof of Russia’s technological superiority and using it to escalate threats against Kyiv’s Western allies. According to the report, Putin ordered the production of four additional missiles in 2025 following the initial strike, but subsequent launches have exposed major reliability issues. Since its first use, Russia has launched three additional Oreshnik missiles at Ukraine. One struck western Ukraine’s Lviv region in January, while another hit Bila Tserkva south of Kyiv in May. Following this, a second warhead package disappeared over the Russian-occupied Donetsk region. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote in its latest assessment that Russia likely has one operational Oreshnik missile remaining in its arsenal. Dallas Analytics attributes the failures to a critical component known as the “GU-503,” a high-precision gyroscopic unit responsible for stabilizing missile flight and correcting pitch, roll, and yaw deviations.