The Russian leader’s use of the missile against Ukraine sends a powerful signal about his intention to weaken NATO and bend Europe’s security architecture to Russia’s will.

Last week, Russia fired its new intermediate-range ballistic missiles at Ukraine and hit a factory in the central city of Dnipro, as the country puts the weapon into mass production

Hypersonic weapons like Russia’s Oreshnik missile present a formidable challenge to existing missile defense systems. However, defenses capable of intercepting them do exist.