Vladimir Putin’s new nuclear-powered cruise missile has been branded as a pathetic attempt to “scare” the West and will have British and American armies “roll[ing] on the floor laughing”, experts have claimed. The Russian leader proudly announced the successful test of his new missile, dubbed “Flying Chernobyl”, claiming the “invincible” new weapon would be a game-changer.
Officially known as the 9M730 Burevestnik, Mr Putin’s new weapon is said to have a range of 12,500 miles and is designed to bypass existing defence systems. Video footage released on Sunday (October 26), alongside remarks from the Kremlin, showed the Russian leader dressed in camouflage fatigues meeting senior military officials. General Valery Gerasimov, Russia’s chief of general staff, informed the Russian leader that the Burevestnik missile travelled 8,700 miles during a 15-hour critical test carried out on Tuesday. However, a security and intelligence expert has said that Russia could only ever use it with a nuclear warhead – rather than a conventional one – a move he believes the Russian leader would never dare make.
“If it’s nuclear-powered at its propulsion end, and you’ve got something that goes bang at the other end, then you’ve just created a radiological dirty bomb,” security and intelligence expert Philip Ingram MBE told The Sun. “That’s what would happen if this was used with a conventional warhead in it. The only way you could practically use it is with a nuclear warhead.
“There’s no point in contaminating an area just because you’re using nuclear power as a propulsion system. And actually, Russia’s intercontinental ballistic missiles can do the job much better anyway.”
The Burevestnik has a poor test record with numerous past failures, according to Western experts. In 2019, at least five Russian nuclear specialists were killed in an explosion and release of radiation during an experiment in the White Sea, with US intelligence sources suspecting it was part of a test of the Burevestnik. There was, however, a successful test in October 2023.
Thomas Countryman, a former top State Department official with the Arms Control Association, also said that the missile “is a uniquely stupid weapon system, a flying Chernobyl that poses more threat to Russia than it does to other countries”, according to The Sun.
Plus, if Mr Putin did choose to launch the missile, several Western experts have said its subsonic speed would make it detectable, becoming even more vulnerable the longer it stayed in flight.
“If one of these things was fired, it would stand out like a beacon flashing with radiation – saying: ‘Here I am, here I am’,” added Mr Ingram.
This comes after US President Donald Trump issued a chilling four-word threat to the Kremlin after its test on October 21. Defying Mr Trump’s latest calls for peace, Mr Putin also revealed details of nuclear war drills carried out by his forces over the past week.
Mr Trump told reporters on board Air Force One that it was “inappropriate” for the Russian leader to be making vain boasts about his nuclear weapons. The US President then issued his own threat, reminding the Kremlin leader that America’s navy has the “greatest” nuclear submarine “right off their shore”.
