Putin Says Russia Now Has Nuclear-Powered Missile

[womanofthehills]

New York Times - Oct 26

Russia has successfully tested its nuclear-powered and nuclear-capable Burevestnik missile and is preparing to deploy it, President Vladimir V. Putin said Sunday, a pointed message to the West after plans for a summit with President Trump collapsed.

Because the weapon runs on nuclear power, it can fly for much longer than other missiles can, and, the Kremlin says, is capable of evading missile defense systems.

“This is a unique product that no one in the world has,” Mr. Putin said during a meeting with the chief of the general staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Valery V. Gerasimov, and other military commanders, according to a video released by the Kremlin. “We need to identify potential uses and begin preparing the infrastructure for deploying this weapon in our armed forces,” Mr. Putin continued.

Mr. Putin, dressed in a military uniform, listened as Mr. Gerasimov announced that the test had taken place on Tuesday, and that the missile had remained in flight for 15 hours and flown 8,700 miles. Mr. Gerasimov also said combat training launches of Yars and Sineva intercontinental ballistic missiles and two Kh-102 cruise missiles had taken place, which Mr. Putin said “once again confirmed the reliability of Russia’s nuclear shield.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/26/world/europe/russia-burevestnik-missile.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

[chowder66]

1. Disgusting.

[Norrrm]

2. Nuclear powered, as in propulsion?

I just cannot picture it being feasible.

Anyone got some articles?

[womanofthehills]

3. " Russia tested new nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile"

Reuters

https://www.reuters.com/world/china/russia-tested-new-nuclear-powered-cruise-missile-top-general-says-2025-10-26/

[Diraven]

4. They've been working on this for a while

The major drawback is that it spews radioactive waste everywhere along its entire flight path. Putin doesn't care if he irradiates his own people though.

[DetroitLegalBeagle]

7. We had working engines in the 1950s and 60s

Basically nuclear ramjets. Instead of burning fuel for the heat they just use s reactor. Air goes in, is compressed by the speed, heated by the reactor, and produces thrust out the back end. Dunno if the russian missiles work this way though, could be something new. Project Pluto was the name of ours.

[Frasier Balzov]

5. Steam powered from plutonium heat?

It probably runs out of water!

[womanofthehills]

6. AI - "it contaminates flight path"

“- Propulsion Mechanism: It uses a compact nuclear reactor to heat air, which is then expelled through a ramjet engine for thrust. This process superheats incoming air with nuclear fission, producing exhaust that is inherently radioactive. Unlike conventional missiles, which burn chemical fuel without ongoing radiation, the Burevestnik's engine "spews" radioactive particles as a byproduct of operation.
- Historical Evidence from Tests:
- In November 2017, a test missile crashed into the Barents Sea after just 2 minutes of flight, requiring specialized ships (including one for handling radioactive material) to recover debris from the seabed.
- The 2019 Nyonoksa explosion (killing 5 nuclear engineers and 2 service members) involved a nuclear reaction during recovery of a failed Burevestnik prototype, releasing isotopes like strontium-91, strontium-133, and barium-139 into the air. Rosatom confirmed the radiation spike, linked to an "isotope power source" for the engine.
- Strategic Implications: This design allows "unlimited range" and evasion of defenses by flying low and loitering, but it risks contaminating flight paths with fallout. The U.S. abandoned similar concepts (e.g., Project Pluto in the 1950s) due to this environmental hazard.
”

[LastDemocratInSC]

8. This is in the category of "Here, hold my vodka".

[womanofthehills]

10. Someone called it a flying Chernobyl

There are still class lawsuits in NM for people who got cancer from Trinity Test radiation from the 40’s. . There still is plutonium on the ridges of Chupadera Mesa from the Trinity test. I can see the Chupadera from my upstairs windows.

[Crunchy Frog]

11. Can't help waving his pee pee around

to try and intimidate everyone.

[womanofthehills]

12. problem is - its very intimidating

Russia said if Zelensky uses long range missiles into Russia, the retaliation would be severe.

[Crunchy Frog]

13. He says things like that a LOT.

Hasn't done it yet.

[Emrys]

14. Ukraine has been launching successful long-range missile attacks into Russia for quite some time.

That, along with escalating sanctions and concerted strikes on Russia's energy infrastructure and arms production facilities, has set the Russians squawking yet again.

As for retaliation, you may have noticed Russia's been peppering Ukraine with massive missile salvoes daily for quite some time, so I think the "retaliation" horse has long bolted.

Likewise, the Russians have been trying to deploy this scary nuclear-powered Wunderwaffe for quite some time. Stories like this have cropped up at various points in the last few years.

It's not the first time the Russians have claimed a "successful" test of it, and it's a toss-up whether it's more of a danger to the Russians than anyone else:

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, and U.S. intelligence sources said they suspected it was part of a test of the Burevestnik. Putin presented their widows with top state awards, saying the weapon they were developing was without equal in the world, although he did not name it. Putin announced a successful test of the missile in October 2023.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/burevestnik-cruise-missile-nuclear-russia-b2852531.html

If they have achieved a successful lengthy test flight, I'd imagine nuclear monitoring systems would be tripped, as there's no known way to achieve this method of propulsion without spreading a trail of nuclear pollution in in its wake. Only two out of 13 tests of the Burevestnik over the last few years have been at least partially successful, so whether any claimed "success" is repeatable is another matter. Russia's military has more pressing, potentially existential, problems at the moment anyway.

And every time Putin makes a willy-waving announcement about this system, it's accompanied by pearl-clutching in the media. This is from 2018:

Experts Aghast At Russian Claim Of Nuclear-Powered Missile With Unlimited Range

https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2018/03/01/590014611/experts-aghast-over-russian-claim-of-nuclear-powered-missile-with-unlimited-rang

If you read that article, you'll see that the US was developing a similar system back in the 1950s-1970s, but abandoned it because it was so filthy and problematic and had no credible strategic purpose nor any benefits over alternative systems.

It's not a first strike weapon - it's too slow. By the time it hit any target, Putin and his regime would long be toast. Its use case is envisaged as mopping up any remains of adversary countries after ballistic missile strikes. As for its fabled survivability, Putin has made similar boasts about Russia's "hypersonic" missiles, which Ukraine has ended up being able to successfully intercept with Patriots (until a recent suspected upgrade by the Russians, which will no doubt be met by other Ukrainian countermeasures in due course).

[Buns_of_Fire]

15. Next up on Poots' intimidation list: Nuclear hand grenades. nt

[TheBlackAdder]

16. No surprise that Russia is moving back to steam powered propulsion.