<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Russia tested a new nuclear-capable and powered cruise missile fit to confound existing defences, inching closer to deploying it to its military, President Vladimir Putin said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The announcement, which followed years of tests of the Burevestnik missile, comes as part of nuclear messaging from the Kremlin, which has resisted Western pressure for a ceasefire in Ukraine and strongly warned the US and other NATO allies against sanctioning strikes deep inside Russia with longer-range Western weapons.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A video released on Sunday by the Kremlin showed Putin, dressed in camouflage fatigues, receiving a report from General Valery Gerasimov, Russia's chief of general staff, who told the Russian leader that the Burevestnik covered 14,000 kilometres in a key test last Tuesday.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/louvre-museum-robbery-suspects-arrested-over-theft-of-crown-jewels/2f3f79a9-725a-46c8-8c5a-304cd3f28f3b" rel="" target="_blank" title="Suspects arrested over theft of crown jewels from Paris' Louvre museum"><strong><span>Suspects arrested over theft of crown jewels from Paris' Louvre museum</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Gerasimov said the Burevestnik, or storm petrel in Russian, spent 15 hours in the air on nuclear power, adding "that's not the limit".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Little is known about the Burevestnik, which was code-named Skyfall by NATO, and many Western experts have been sceptical about it, noting that a nuclear engine could be highly unreliable.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>When Putin first revealed that Russia was working on the weapon in his 2018 state-of-the-nation address, he claimed it would have an unlimited range, allowing it to circle the globe undetected by missile defence systems.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/russia-tests-new-nuclear-cruise-missile-putin-says/986d0c5c-fe8a-4037-af11-bad957700b56" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Many observers argue such a missile could be difficult to handle and pose an environmental threat. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The US and the Soviet Union worked on nuclear-powered missiles during the Cold War, but they eventually shelved the projects, considering them too hazardous.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Burevestnik reportedly suffered an explosion in August 2019 during tests at a navy range on the White Sea, killing five nuclear engineers and two service members and resulting in a brief spike in radioactivity that fuelled fears in a nearby city.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/south-east-queensland-total-fire-ban/d661fb00-173d-45d6-87eb-2893c95eb3fc" rel="" target="_blank" title="Tens of thousands without power post-storm as fire danger surges"><strong><span>Tens of thousands without power post-storm as fire danger surges</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Russian officials never identified the weapon involved, but the US said it was the Burevestnik.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We need to determine the possible uses and begin preparing the infrastructure for deploying these weapons to our armed forces," Putin told Gerasimov.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Russian leader also claimed it was invulnerable to current and future missile defences, due to its almost unlimited range and unpredictable flight path.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Last week, Putin directed drills of Russia's strategic nuclear forces that featured practice missile launches. The exercise came as his planned summit on Ukraine with US President Donald Trump was put on hold.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f"><em><strong><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></strong></em></a><em><strong><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the</span></strong></em><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727"><em><strong><span>Apple App Store</span></strong></em></a><span> </span><em><strong><span>and</span></strong></em><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU"><em><strong><span>Google Play</span></strong></em></a><em><strong><span>.</span></strong></em></div></div>