President Vladimir Putin announced on Wednesday that Russia had successfully tested its nuclear-capable, nuclear-powered underwater drone, Poseidon, marking the country’s second major nuclear weapons test in less than a week.
The test comes just days after Putin oversaw the launch of the Burevestnik cruise missile, another nuclear-capable weapon with what he described as an “unlimited range.”
US President Donald Trump had criticised that test as “not appropriate” and urged Moscow to prioritise ending the war in Ukraine instead of developing new weapons.
“Yesterday, another test was conducted for another prospective system the unmanned underwater device ‘Poseidon,’ also equipped with a nuclear power unit,” Putin said in televised remarks during a visit to a military hospital treating Russian soldiers wounded in Ukraine.
Putin boasted that the Poseidon drone torpedo was impossible to intercept, capable of reaching any continent and travelling faster than conventional submarines.
According to Russian state media, the underwater weapon can operate at depths exceeding one kilometre and reach speeds of up to 70 knots, all while remaining undetectable. A source from Russia’s military-industrial complex told TASS that Poseidon could carry a nuclear warhead of up to two megatons.
READ ALSO:Kyiv hits Moscow with drones after Putin tests missile
First revealed in 2018, Poseidon is part of Moscow’s next-generation arsenal designed to bypass existing missile defence systems and reinforce Russia’s strategic deterrence capabilities.
“No country in the world possesses a comparable system, and it is unlikely that anything similar will appear in the near future,” Putin declared.
The announcement follows a string of provocative tests as Moscow continues to demonstrate its military might amid heightened global concerns over nuclear escalation and the ongoing Ukraine conflict.
After the Burevestnik launch earlier this week, Trump said Putin should focus on peace efforts rather than weapons tests.
“He ought to get the war ended a war that should have taken one week is now in its fourth year,” Trump told reporters, adding that his administration had cancelled a planned Budapest summit with Putin over the Russian leader’s “unwillingness to compromise.”
Despite multiple diplomatic overtures since returning to the White House in January, Trump’s efforts to broker an end to the Ukraine war have stalled, and frustration in Washington has grown. The US Treasury recently imposed sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies, citing a lack of progress in peace negotiations.
Putin first unveiled both the Poseidon and Burevestnik projects during a 2018 national address, describing them as proof of Russia’s technological superiority and its readiness to counter what he called Western aggression.
As the geopolitical standoff deepens, analysts warn that the latest tests mark a significant escalation in nuclear posturing, complicating already strained relations between Moscow and Washington.
