Russia has successfully tested its nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile, a weapon President Vladimir Putin described as unmatched globally and capable of evading any missile defense system.
The announcement marks a significant step toward deployment of one of Moscow’s most advanced and controversial strategic weapons.
Speaking in military fatigues at a command post meeting with generals overseeing the war in Ukraine, Putin said the missile’s “crucial testing” had been completed and that Russia would now prepare the infrastructure needed to deploy it.
“It is a unique weapon which nobody else in the world has,” he declared in remarks released by the Kremlin on Sunday.
Russia’s Chief of the General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, briefed Putin that the missile, known as the 9M730 Burevestnik (Storm Petrel) and dubbed SSC-X-9 Skyfall by NATO, flew 14,000 kilometers (8,700 miles) over a 15-hour period during its October 21 test.
The weapon, he said, operated on nuclear propulsion, giving it virtually unlimited range and an unpredictable flight path designed to defeat any current or future missile defenses.
Putin first unveiled the Burevestnik in 2018 as part of a new generation of strategic weapons developed in response to the United States’ withdrawal from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and Washington’s efforts to expand its missile defense systems.
On Sunday, he said even Russian experts had once doubted the missile could be realized. “Now, they have proven it possible,” Putin said.
The timing of the test, coming days after a major nuclear drill and as U.S. President Donald Trump adopts a harder line toward Moscow, appeared intended as a strategic signal.
“Russia will never bow to pressure from the West,” Putin said, as tensions mount over Ukraine and new U.S. support for Kyiv’s long-range strike capabilities.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov echoed that message, telling state television that Russia’s deterrence posture was “at the highest level.”
Gerasimov said last week’s strategic exercises, personally overseen by Putin, involved Yars and Sineva intercontinental ballistic missiles and air-launched Kh-102 cruise missiles.
“The modernity of our nuclear deterrent forces is at the highest level — higher than any other nuclear power,” Putin said.
Western analysts view the Burevestnik test as a warning to Washington amid growing friction over Ukraine.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that the Trump administration lifted restrictions on Kyiv’s use of Western-supplied long-range missiles to target Russian infrastructure, prompting Putin to warn of an “overwhelming” response if Russia were attacked.
Gerasimov added that Russian forces were advancing in eastern Ukraine, claiming Ukrainian troops had been encircled around Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, with progress also reported in Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Zaporizhzhia.
The White House has not yet commented on Russia’s latest missile test.
Source: Reuters
Written By Rodney Mbua
