Russia has successfully tested a nuclear-capable, nuclear-powered underwater drone, President Vladimir Putin announced on Wednesday, defying warnings from US President Donald Trump. The trial marked Moscow’s second test of a new nuclear weapons system within a few days.
On Sunday, Putin personally supervised the test of another advanced nuclear-capable weapon — the Burevestnik cruise missile — which he claimed had an “unlimited range.” Trump later criticised that exercise, describing it as “not appropriate.”
“Yesterday, we conducted another test for a new system — the unmanned underwater device ‘Poseidon,’ also fitted with a nuclear power unit,” Putin stated in televised remarks during a visit to a military hospital treating Russian soldiers wounded in Ukraine.
The Russian leader boasted that there was “no way to intercept” the Poseidon drone, asserting that it could travel faster than conventional submarines and reach any continent on the globe.
Putin added that no nation could match Poseidon’s speed or diving depth, remarking, “It is unlikely that anything similar will appear in the near future.”
According to a source in Russia’s military-industrial complex quoted by the state news agency TASS, the device can operate at depths exceeding one kilometre and travel at speeds of up to 70 knots while remaining undetectable.
First tested in 2018, the Poseidon is reportedly capable of carrying a nuclear warhead of up to two megatons, the source told TASS.
Following Sunday’s missile test, Trump urged Putin to prioritise ending the war in Ukraine.
“He ought to get the war in Ukraine ended. A war that should have taken one week is now approaching its fourth year. That’s what he ought to do instead of testing missiles,” Trump said.
The US president cancelled a planned summit with Putin in Budapest last week, citing the Russian leader’s reluctance to compromise to end the conflict.
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has sought to broker a peace deal, but the talks have produced no results. He has grown increasingly frustrated with Putin, who has dismissed repeated calls for a ceasefire.
Washington also imposed sanctions last week on Russia’s two largest oil companies, accusing Putin of stalling peace efforts.
Putin first unveiled the Burevestnik and Poseidon projects during a fiery anti-Western address in 2018, hailing them as symbols of Russia’s unmatched military innovation.