Putin touts test of nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile
“Russia says a nuclear-powered cruise missile flew ~14,000 km in a test.”
Key points
- Russia says a nuclear-powered cruise missile flew ~14,000 km in a test.
- Putin calls Burevestnik capable of penetrating missile defences.
- Kremlin links the programme to US missile-defence moves and NATO growth.
- Announcement coincides with strategic drills and sharper US rhetoric.
President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia has successfully tested its nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile, a system Moscow claims can evade any missile defence architecture. He said the country would move toward deployment and asserted that Russia would not yield to Western pressure over the war in Ukraine.
Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov briefed Putin that the missile flew roughly 14,000 kilometres and remained airborne for about 15 hours during an October 21 trial. Russia describes the 9M730 Burevestnik—known to NATO as SSC-X-9 Skyfall—as having near-unlimited range and an unpredictable flight path.
Putin cast the programme as a response to the United States’ 2001 withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and subsequent NATO expansion. He said crucial testing had concluded and ordered preparations for classification and deployment infrastructure.
The timing of the test, alongside recent strategic-forces drills, was widely read as a signal to Washington amid a tougher US posture on Russia. The White House did not immediately comment. Russian officials also claimed battlefield gains in eastern Ukraine as the Kremlin reiterated its deterrence message.
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