Russia has successfully tested a nuclear-capable, nuclear-powered underwater drone, President Vladimir Putin announced on Wednesday, defying US President Donald Trump’s threats with Moscow’s second test of a new nuclear weapons system in as many days.
Putin oversaw the launch of another sophisticated nuclear-capable weapon, the Burevestnik cruise missile, which he claimed had an “unlimited range,” on Sunday. Trump termed the drill “inappropriate.”
“Yesterday, another test was conducted for another prospective system—the unmanned underwater device ‘Poseidon,’ also equipped with a nuclear power unit,” Putin revealed in televised remarks while visiting a military hospital treating Russian soldiers wounded in Ukraine.
The Russian leader stated there was “no way to intercept” the drone torpedo, which, according to Putin, can move faster than conventional submarines and reach every continent on the planet.
Putin claimed that no country could match Poseidon’s speed and diving depth, adding that “it is unlikely that anything similar will appear in the near future.”
According to a source in the Russian military-industrial complex cited by state news agency TASS, the device can function at speeds of up to 70 knots while remaining undetectable at depths more than one kilometer (0.6 miles).
The source informed TASS that it was first tested in 2018 and is capable of carrying a nuclear payload of up to two megatons.
Following Sunday’s cruise missile test, Trump urged Putin to focus on settling the conflict in Ukraine.
“He ought to get the war (in Ukraine) ended. A war that should have taken one week is now soon in its fourth year. That’s what he ought to do instead of testing missiles,” Trump said.
Last week, the US president canceled a planned summit with Putin in Budapest, citing the Russian leader’s unwillingness to compromise to end the dispute.
Trump has been attempting to reach an agreement since returning to the White House in January, but talks have brought no results, and he has grown increasingly frustrated with Putin, who has repeatedly rejected pleas for a truce.
Last week, Washington imposed sanctions on Russia’s two major oil corporations, claiming that his negotiations with Putin to end the Ukraine conflict “don’t go anywhere.”
Putin originally revealed Russia’s development of the Burevestnik and Poseidon during a furious anti-Western address in 2018.
