Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced a successful test of a nuclear-powered underwater drone, escalating tensions with the United States and directly defying President Donald Trump’s warnings.
Putin confirmed the test of the unmanned underwater device, “Poseidon,” on Wednesday Moscow’s second nuclear weapons test in less than a week. The announcement followed Sunday’s launch of the Burevestnik cruise missile, another nuclear-capable weapon with what Putin described as an “unlimited range.”
Trump criticized the earlier test, calling it “not appropriate,” and urged Putin to focus instead on ending the war in Ukraine.
“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 Russian military hospital treating soldiers wounded in Ukraine.
According to the Russian leader, Poseidon is virtually unstoppable. He claimed the weapon can travel faster than submarines, reach any continent, and operate at depths of over one kilometer.
“No country can match Poseidon’s speed and diving depth,” Putin boasted. “It is unlikely that anything similar will appear in the near future.”
A Russian military source told state news agency TASS that Poseidon can reach speeds of up to 70 knots while remaining undetectable. The drone, first tested in 2018, can also carry a nuclear warhead of up to two megatons, the source added.
After Sunday’s missile launch, Trump renewed calls for Putin to end the Ukraine war, which he said “should have taken one week but is now in its fourth year.”
The U.S. president last week canceled a planned summit with Putin in Budapest, accusing the Russian leader of refusing to compromise. Despite months of diplomacy, Trump has grown frustrated as Putin rejects repeated ceasefire proposals.
The U.S. recently imposed sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies, warning that the Kremlin’s war strategy continues to block peace efforts.
Putin first revealed the Burevestnik and Poseidon programs in a 2018 anti-Western speech, promising to develop next-generation weapons that could outmatch NATO defenses.
The new tests, coming just days apart, signal Moscow’s determination to flex nuclear power even as global pressure mounts to de-escalate the conflict in Ukraine.