We bet anyone in the know about the new Russian nuclear-capable intermediate-range ballistic missile Oreshnik (hazelnut tree) ponders why it got such a name. Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters shares his own inkling on the matter.
Speaking to Sputnik, the UK rock group legend suggested the missile was called “Oreshnik” because it drops several “nuts” when the weapon hits the target, in an apparent reference to the missile’s submunitions, which resemble clusters of hazelnuts.
Waters added jokingly that he cannot think of another reason for a missile to be named after a tree.
Answering the same question during his annual "Direct Line" question-and-answer session and end-of-year press conference on December 19, Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted to being in the dark about it.
This came after Waters told Sputnik earlier this month that he thinks Russia’s recent use of the Oreshnik missile made Volodymyr Zelensky think once or twice about what he might do in the next two months.
The remarks followed Putin’s statement that Russia has successfully test-fired the Oreshnik missile on November 21, hitting a Ukrainian defense industry complex in the city of Dnepropetrovsk, in response to Kiev using the US- and UK-supplied missiles to strike facilities in Russia's Kursk and Bryansk regions.