• Putin proposed a missile "duel" between the Oreshnik and US-made air defenses.
• He said Ukraine could concentrate its anti-missile systems in one spot and try to counter the new munition.
• In response, Ukraine's Zelenskyy called him a "dumbass."

Russian leader Vladimir Putin suggested on Thursday that an experimental "duel" be held between Moscow's newly unveiled Oreshnik missile and Western-made air defenses.

Speaking at his annual press conference, Putin slammed the idea that the Oreshnik could be shot down by anti-missile defenses.

"If the experts in the West think so, well, let them come up with a proposal to us, and to the US. They can suggest a kind of technological experiment, a kind of high-tech fighting duel of the 21st century," Putin said, per a translation of the conference.

Putin said both parties could agree upon a target in Kyiv, where Ukraine could "concentrate all of their air defense and anti-missile defense."

"We will strike it with Oreshnik and we will see what's going to happen. We are willing to conduct such an experiment," he said.

He also suggested that it could benefit the US by allowing the Pentagon to glean information from the strike.

"So let's conduct this duel and look at the outcome. It's going to be interesting because it's going to be useful both to us and the American side," he added.

Russia initially fired the Oreshnik in late November, hitting the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro.

The new missile, which appears to have its roots in the RS-26 Rubezh intermediate-range ballistic missile, was described by Putin as flying as fast as Mach 10, or 10 times the speed of sound.

That velocity makes it extremely difficult for anti-missile defenses to counter. The Oreshnik is also believed to deploy a cluster payload and is capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

Additionally, the missile's purported range allows it to hit any target in Europe. Russia has, in recent weeks, touted it as a new class of weapon in the Ukraine war.

Shortly after Putin's comment, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took to X to voice his disapproval of the "duel" proposal.

"People are dying, and he thinks it's 'interesting,'" Zelenskyy wrote on X on Thursday evening. "Dumbass."

US defenses vs Russian missiles

Ukraine has placed great emphasis on its need for US-made Patriot systems to protect its skies, and Zelenskyy has said his nation needs at least 25 of them. It's unclear exactly how many Patriot batteries Ukraine fields now, but it's been confirmed to have at least four systems donated by NATO members and another five on the way.

They're expensive to use. Each Patriot missile costs up to $6 million and even then, may struggle against advanced weapons maneuvering at the speeds Putin is advertising. These munitions, often called hypersonic missiles, have been a key concern for the Pentagon.

Notably, the Kinzhal, a previously much-hyped missile, was also touted by Russia as hypersonic and "unstoppable." But it has reportedly been downed dozens of times by Patriot batteries in Ukraine.

Still, the Kinzhal appears to be less advanced in maneuverability and glide potential than the Oreshnik and China's Dongfeng hypersonic missiles.

Meanwhile, Western experts still question how many Oreshnik missiles Russia has in its inventory, and the US calls it an experimental weapon. Moscow's strike on Dnipro was largely seen as a show of force, and the Pentagon has said it may launch a similar strike on Ukraine soon.

On Monday, Putin told state media that serial production of the Oreshnik would begin soon.

• Ukraine is recalling a batch of 120mm mortar shells that soldiers said are defective.
• Ukrainian media reported that around 100,000 locally made rounds were affected.
• It's a notable hiccup in Ukraine's aspirations to rapidly scale up its ammo-producing industry.

Ukraine's defense ministry issued a recall of 120mm artillery shells this week, citing defects in a recently delivered batch of rounds.

In a statement on Tuesday, the ministry said it was investigating incidents of "abnormal activation" of the shells from the last three weeks.

Officials didn't say exactly how many rounds were affected, but Ukrainian media reported that 100,000 shells would be recalled.

The defective 120mm rounds — light artillery shells that Ukraine typically uses in mortars — were first reported in early November by Censor.Net, a local media outlet run by journalist Yuriy Butusov.

The outlet posted a video appearing to show a Ukrainian soldier complaining that the shells often failed to detonate and would sometimes fly only a short distance from their mortars.

Only about one in 10 rounds would fire and explode effectively, the soldier estimated.

Local broadcaster TSN also reported on Monday that soldiers said rounds would get stuck in their mortar barrels, and that their units were often receiving shells with wet powder charges.

Also called bounce or cheese charges, these are explosives meant to propel the mortar round out of its tube.

Butusov, who runs Censor.Net, published a separate video on his personal YouTube channel on Monday, saying that a commander told his outlet that several Ukrainian brigades were ordered to remove 100,000 shells from the front lines.

TSN and Ukrainian investigative journalist Yuriy Nikolov reported the same figure, with Nikolov writing that they were worth about six months of use.

Local reports also said that the rounds were domestically made by Ukroboronprom, a key ammunition manufacturer owned by the state.

The firm said in February 2023 that it partnered with an undisclosed NATO country to produce 120mm shells, but it's unclear if the defective rounds came from this joint venture.

Ukroboronprom and the Ukrainian Defense Ministry did not respond to requests sent outside regular business hours by Business Insider.

In its Tuesday statement, the defense ministry said it was looking into the causes of the defects, including "low-quality powder charges or violations of the storage conditions of ammunition."

Officials also said they would replace the defective rounds with imported ammunition, but did not elaborate.

Fedir Venislavskyi, a Ukrainian parliamentary member on a defense committee, told public broadcaster Suspilne that the rounds may have been affected by recent colder and more humid weather.

"In dry weather, these mines did not produce any failures," he told the outlet.

An unnamed defense ministry official also told Suspilne that the ammunition issues were limited to a single batch out of several already delivered by the manufacturer.

Kyiv has placed heavy emphasis on producing its own artillery rounds after its forces were starved of shells for months during a US Congress lock-up of American aid earlier this year. Globally, Ukraine's allies have also struggled to quickly scale up production of artillery shells.

On November 19, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said domestic factories had produced 2.5 million artillery shells and mortar rounds in 2024 alone.

Quantity has been especially critical for Ukraine, which is facing a grinding Russian advance in the east that's relied on mass manpower, gear, and ammunition to chip away at the front lines.

Meanwhile, the ammo recall has sparked questions domestically about quality control and Ukraine's procurement process, with local outlets calling the incident a "scandal" of "low-quality goods."

Last year, Ukraine was hit by two major procurement scandals when its defense officials were accused of overpaying for food and low-grade winter jackets.

The defense ministry said a criminal investigation was launched for the 120mm case, but added that it wouldn't disclose further details due to sensitive military information.