Vladimir Putin has unveiled his latest 40-ft intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that can be launched from hidden submarines.
The most recent addition to his arsenal, dubbed the “The Sceptre”, has an estimated 5,160-mile range and can carry up to 10 warheads which can all attack numerous targets.
Footage of the missile, called Bulava in Russian, was released by the nation’s military, and shows it rising above the water’s surface, with plumes of smoke following in its wake.
Its chief designer, Yuri Solomonov, said Russia announced its adoption of the new rockets on May 7, the same day Putin began a new six-year term in the Kremlin.
The new submarine-launched nuclear ICBM was first developed under a programme which began in the 1990s. It will form the foundation of Russia’s land-sea-air nuclear triad alongside the Topol, Yars and Sarmat systems.
Last November, the Defence Ministry said one of those submarines had successfully test-launched the Bulava, firing it from an underwater position in the White Sea off northern Russia.
Demonstrating the weapon’s strike capability, the missile hit a target thousands of kilometres away on the Kamchatka peninsula in the Far East.
News agency TASS said Russia's Northern and Pacific fleets now include seven Borei submarines and each carry 16 Bulavas.
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Solomonov is the chief designer at the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering, and has also developed Russia's Topol-M and Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Last week, Putin instructed the Ministry of Defence to conduct a test of non-strategic nuclear weapons, which is expected to take place “in the near future”.
The Russian president made the order in response to “Western aggression”, and added that the exercises were also designed to protect Russia’s sovereignty.
In a message on Telegram, the Russian MoD said the tests would take place “in response to provocative statements and threats by individual Western officials against the Russian Federation”.
Russian media quoted the Ministry as stating: “On instructions from the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, in order to increase the readiness of non-strategic nuclear forces to carry out combat missions, the General Staff has begun preparations for holding exercises in the near future with missile formations of the Southern Military District with the involvement of aviation, as well as naval forces.”
Following this, former Russian president Dimitry Medvedev warned that “world catastrophe” could occur, stating that the deployment of troops in Ukraine - which he called a “non-existent country” - could warrant a Russian response.
He also slammed Western leaders as “infantile morons” and “irresponsible scoundrels”, as Russia summoned the British ambassador.
Medvedev said: “The chorus of irresponsible scoundrels among the Western political elite calling for troops to be sent to a non-existent country is growing.
“Sending your troops to Ukrainian territory will entail the direct entry of their countries into the war, to which we will have to respond - and, alas, not in Ukrainian territory.
“In this case, none of them will be able to hide - either on Capitol Hill, or in the Elysee Palace, or in 10 Downing Street. A world catastrophe will come.”
