In his annual state of the nation address on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia has developed new nuclear weapons, and claims that they are invincible, BBC News reports.
Putin claimed in his speech, which comes less than three weeks before the presidential election, that Russia has successfully tested nuclear-propulsion engines that would allow nuclear-tipped cruise missiles and underwater drones to “reach anywhere in the world” as well as “invulnerable” to any interception, The Washington Post reports.
The nuclear-powered cruise missiles were, according to Putin, tested in late 2017, and supposed video of the tests were shown during the speech, ABC News reports. The video showed the missile firing into the sky, and then switched to a graphic that simulated the missile flying around the globe, and ultimately landing somewhere along the west coast of the United States, ABC News reports.
“The missile’s test-launch and ground trials make it possible to create a brand-new weapon, a strategic nuclear missile powered by a nuclear engine,” Putin told the audience. “The range is unlimited. It can maneuver for an unlimited period of time.”
“No one in the world has anything similar,” Putin said as the crowd applauded.
According to BBC News, Putin said of the West: “They need to take account of a new reality and understand … [this]… is not a bluff.”
Putin warned, according to The Post, that if any country were to engage in a nuclear attack on any of Russia’s allies, it would consider it an attack on Russia itself and react accordingly, but did not specify which countries it considered to be its allies. According to The Post, Putin made it clear that Russia’s latest weapons development was due to the U.S. creating a new arms race by resisting arms-control negotiations, developing new missile-defense systems and for being more aggressive in its nuclear strategy.
Putin argued that the U.S. had not taken Russia’s strength seriously, The Post reports.
“No one listened to us,” Putin said. “Listen to us now.”
“We’re not surprised by the statement,” Dana White, the Pentagon’s chief spokesperson, told reporters. “And the American people should rest assured that we are fully prepared.”
According to ABC News, U.S. officials had been following the missile’s development, and said that it wasn’t actually operational. A U.S. official told ABC News that the missile was still in research and development and had crashed in testing multiple times.
White also rejected Putin’s claim that Russia decided to bolster its weapons because of developments and buildups in the West, The Post reports.
“Our missile defense has never been about [Russia],” White said.
According to The Post, top U.S. Generals had given warnings about the developments of these new weapons, urging Congress and the Pentagon to step up technology that could better defend against them. Russia has developed new cruise missiles “with the capability to hold targets at risk at ranges we haven’t seen before,” Air Force Gen. Lori Robinson, the Commander of U.S. Northern Command said in Senate testimony last month.
Alexander Golts, an independent Russian military analyst, said that he was in “shock.”
“This is the start of a new Cold War,” Golts said. “This is an effort to scare the West.”
According to The Post, Russia’s military spending is significantly smaller than the United States’, which would make it difficult to engage in an arms race. However, Putin’s presentation had demonstrated that Russia plans to match the U.S. as a nuclear power.