Russian fun park launches 'Oreshnik' ride


ST PETERSBURG, Russia, ⁠June 5 (Reuters) - A Russian amusement park in St ⁠Petersburg has named one of its rides ‌the "Oreshnik", after a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile that Moscow has fired three times at Ukraine.

Visitors to the rocket-shaped attraction are repeatedly lifted ​into the air and plunged into ⁠sudden stomach-churning drops.

Not everyone ⁠is pleased with the name, however.

"I don't think it ⁠fits. ‌The best name for it would be 'Rocket'... I don't understand what it's got to ⁠do with the Oreshnik - who came up with ​that name?" one ‌woman said.

A man visiting the park on Friday ⁠told Reuters: "A ​children's attraction should have a children's name, that's my personal opinion."

The Oreshnik - which Russia first fired against Ukraine ⁠in 2024, and most recently ​last month - has a range of over 5,000 km (3,100 miles). President Vladimir Putin has said it is impossible to ⁠intercept, though Western experts have questioned that assertion.

Putin told reporters on Thursday that Russia had not yet used the Oreshnik against Ukraine in real combat ​conditions, but only tried it out ⁠to observe the results. He said this would inform ​Moscow's decisions about the full-scale ‌use of the weapon in ​future, including against urban targets.

(Reporting by Reuters, writing by Mark Trevelyan, Editing by Louise Heavens)

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