This is reported by Financial Times.
The publication discovered job vacancies from two leading Russian engineering institutes, which Ukrainian intelligence identified as developers of the "Oreshnik".
The Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering (MIT) and the "Sozvezdie" concern, part of Russia's radio-electronic complex, were looking for employees familiar with metalworking systems from German and Japanese companies.
It appears that Russia has a particularly acute need in the area of numerical control programming (ЧПУ). In the job listings, Russians specify the need to be knowledgeable about the systems from the Japanese company Fanuc, as well as the German firms Siemens and Heidenhain. All three companies manufacture control systems for high-precision CNC machines.
"Sozvezdie" indicated one of its specializations as "automated control systems and military communication systems".
"Titan-Barricades" — another company involved in the production of the "Oreshnik" — published an image at the beginning of the year of a worker standing in front of a control device branded with Fanuc.
Additionally, job announcements show that "STAN" — a Russian company focused on the design and production of machine tool equipment — also utilizes Heidenhain equipment.
Export controls have slowed the flow of control blocks to Russia. However, FT, citing Russian documents, reports that since the beginning of 2024, equipment worth at least 3 million dollars has arrived in the Russian Federation, including components from Heidenhain. Some of the buyers are deeply involved in Russia's defense sector.
This is a Russian nuclear weapon carrier. Ukrainian intelligence stated that "Oreshnik" is the name of a research project by the Russians, while the actual system is called "Kedr".
The occupiers first used this weapon against Ukraine early in the morning of November 21, attacking the city of Dnipro. Initially, the Air Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Center for Strategic Communications of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and President Volodymyr Zelensky indicated that the Russians used an intercontinental ballistic missile "Rubezh" for the first time. However, later that same day, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that the Russians used the medium-range missile "Oreshnik", not an intercontinental one.
According to intelligence, the Russians used the "Oreshnik" in a "non-nuclear variant" for the strike on Dnipro. According to GUR, as of October, the Russians were supposed to have produced two prototypes of the "Oreshnik" / "Kedr", and there was no discussion of mass production.