Presidential pronouncements
Putin first announced a programme to develop a new generation of Russian missiles in his 2018 address to the Federal Assembly, at which he played the gathered deputies of both houses of the Russian parliament footage of a missile launch.
Last Thursday, Putin told delegates to Russia’s Valdai Discussion Club that successful tests of the nuclear-powered Burevestnik missile had been carried out, adding that Russia would soon begin mass production of the new weapons ahead in preparation for their use in active service.
The announcement confirmed a New York Times report that ran a few days earlier saying that Russia was likely preparing to test Burevestnik, or may already have done so.
Satellite images by US Earth imaging company Planet Labs dated 20 September showed a vehicle with a trailer that appeared “to correspond to the dimensions of the Burevestnik missile” next to a launchpad located on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the Russian Arctic, one of the two main sites historically used by Russia for nuclear testing.