Putin: Poseidon underwater nuclear drone has been successfully tested

Putin today boasted that Russia has successfully tested his nuclear-capable underwater 'Poseidon' drone, defying Donald Trump's warning over nukes. 

The Russians have previously claimed the weapon could bring mass destruction to the West by sparking 'radioactive tsunamis'.

The latest test comes after Putin oversaw a test of another nuclear-capable cruise missile, which he said had an 'unlimited range'. 

Donald Trump called that exercise not 'appropriate', and urged Putin to 'get the war ended... instead of testing missiles' - while warning of America's own nuclear capabilities.

In televised remarks while visiting a military hospital for Russian soldiers today, Putin said: 'Yesterday, another test was conducted for another prospective system - the unmanned underwater device 'Poseidon,' also equipped with a nuclear power unit.'

The Russian leader said there was 'no way to intercept' the drone torpedo, which, according to Putin, can travel at a speed higher than conventional submarines and reach any continent in the world.

Putin said no country could match Poseidon's speed and diving depth, adding, 'it is unlikely that anything similar will appear in the near future.'

The device can operate at a depth of more than one kilometre and travel at speeds of up to 70 knots while remaining undetectable, according to a source in the Russian military-industrial complex quoted by state news agency TASS.

In 2023, strategic experts warned that the Poseidon torpedo would have the potential to devastate a coastal city, cause radioactive floods, and result in millions of deaths.

According to its mission statement, the Poseidon project was focused on 'damaging the important components of the adversary's economy in a coastal area and inflicting unacceptable damage to a country's territory by creating areas of wide radioactive contamination that would be unsuitable for military, economic, or other activity for long periods of time'. 

The weapon could be also unleashed from Russian submarines such as the Belgorod.

In September 2024, Putin propagandists called for Britain to be sunk beneath a radioactive tsunami with its Poseidon 'superweapon'.

Russian hardline MP Andrei Gurulev sneered 'swim, swim, swim' as he demanded the use of Moscow's unique Poseidon high-speed underwater atomic drone on Britain.

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Putin propagandists call for Britain to be sunk beneath a radioactive tsunami with its 'superweapon'

Kremlin propaganda TV on Rossiya-1 channel demanded a 'critical threat' from Putin to stop Britain, the US and other Western countries giving permission to Ukraine to use long-range missiles for strikes on Russian territory.

'There is, of course, a more radical option,' said Lt-Gen Gurulev, a former tank commander and military strategist. 'The people of Britain are there, they also want to live a good and happy life at our expense, right?

'But if there is no Britain, there is no problem.'

First tested in 2018, it is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead of up to two megatons, the source told TASS.

After Sunday's cruise missile test, Trump urged Putin to focus instead on ending the war in Ukraine.

Putin said on Sunday that Russia had successfully tested its 'unstoppable' nuclear-powered cruise missile, known as the 'Flying Chernobyl', with an 8,700-mile test flight. Moscow says the weapon can pierce any defence shield, and has 'unlimited range'.

Asked on Air Force One about the test of the missile, dubbed the SSC-X-9 Skyfall by NATO, Trump said the United States did not need its nukes to fly so far as it had a nuclear submarine off the coast of Russia.

'They know we have a nuclear submarine, the greatest in the world, right off their shores, so I mean, [our missile] doesn't have to go 8,000 miles,' Trump told reporters, according to an audio file posted by the White House.

'I don't think it's an appropriate thing for Putin to be saying, either, by the way: You ought to get the war ended, the war that should have taken one week is now in... its fourth year, that's what you ought to do instead of testing missiles.'

In response to Trump on Monday, the Kremlin defiantly said that Russia would be guided by its own national interests.

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Trump warns Putin he has 'the greatest nuclear submarine in the world right off their shores' 

'Despite all our openness to establishing a dialogue with the United States, Russia, first of all, and the president of Russia, is guided by our own national interests,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

'That's how it was, that's how it is, and that's how it's going to be.'

The US president last week scrapped a planned summit with Putin in Budapest over what he cast as the Russian leader's unwillingness to compromise to end the conflict.

Trump has been trying to secure a deal since he returned to the White House in January, but talks have yielded no progress and he has shown increasing frustration with Putin, who has rejected multiple calls for a ceasefire.

Washington last week slapped sanctions on Russia's two largest oil companies, complaining that his talks with Putin to end the Ukraine war 'don't go anywhere.'

Putin first announced Russia had developed the Burevestnik and the Poseidon during a fiery anti-Western speech in 2018.