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China denies helping Russia produce Oreshnik missiles
['Martin Fornusek', 'The Kyiv Independent', 'Martin Fornusek Is A Reporter For The Kyiv Independent', 'Specializing In International', 'Regional Politics', 'History', 'Disinformation. Based In Lviv', 'Martin Often Reports On International Politics', 'With A Focus On Analyzing Developments Related To Ukraine', 'Russia.']
The Kyiv Independent
China's Foreign Ministry on Jan. 29 dismissed reporting that Chinese tools have been used to produce Russia's Oreshnik nuclear-capable ballistic missiles, which have been twice deployed against Ukraine.
The news comes after the Telegraph said it had identified at least $10.3 billion worth of equipment China has sent to boost Russia's military industry, including machines and tools used to build Oreshnik warheads.
China has been a key ally to Russia throughout the full-scale invasion, helping Moscow weather Western sanctions and becoming the leading source of dual-use goods necessary for the Russian defense industry.
Russia has vaunted the Oreshnik, an intermediate-range ballistic missile that can travel at 13,000 kilometers per hour (8,000 miles per hour), as impossible for Western systems to intercept.
While Russian authorities present Oreshnik as a novel and modern weapon, experts believe it is mostly based on the RS-26 Rubezh, a nuclear-capable intermediate-range ballistic missile first produced in 2011.