LONDON, November 22. /TASS/. The combat test of a new intermediate-range ballistic missile called the Oreshnik at the Yuzhmash defense enterprise in Ukraine was Russia's attempt to persuade Western countries to refrain from intensifying their involvement in the Ukrainian conflict, The Economist said in a piece.

The publication notes that the "important audience" whom Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed yesterday is allegedly the administration of US President-elect Donald Trump, which is "still fine-tuning its approach" to the conflict.

Thus, The Economist notes, Moscow, which issued its revised nuclear doctrine on November 19, is warning that it may well raise the stakes in response to Kiev's and the West's military efforts. According to the edition, the use of Oreshnik has become "part of a new era of missile warfare."

Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a televised address to the nation on November 21, announcing that in response to the West’s decision to authorize strategic-depth strikes on Russia, Moscow used its new Oreshnik medium-range hypersonic ballistic missile for the first time. The missile, which struck a defense production site in Dnepr (formerly Dnepropetrovsk), was fitted with a conventional warhead, but is designed to carry a nuclear charge as well.

In the president’s words, Oreshnik attacks targets at a speed of Mach 10, or 2.5-3 kilometers per second. Modern air defense systems and missile defense systems deployed by the Americans in Europe cannot intercept such missiles, he added.