“All our plans are fulfilled.” Putin says what Russia's new nuclear-capable weapons can do / Oresnik ballistic missile in series production

President Vladimir Putin praised some of Russia's newest weapons on Tuesday, describing them as faster and more efficient, capable of ensuring his country's security and strategic parity and even being used in rare metal mining and moon missions, Reuters and The Kyiv Independent write.

Putin praised the qualities of the Burevestnik cruise missile and the Poseidon super-torpedo at an award ceremony for experts who helped design and build the weapons.

“The result you achieved has, without exaggeration, a historical significance for our people, ensuring security and strategic parity for the coming decades and, we can boldly say, for the entire 21st century,” Putin said in his comments reported by Russian news agencies.

Last week, Putin announced that Russia had successfully tested the nuclear-capable Burevestnik missile, saying it could evade any air defense system. The Chief of Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, General Valeri Gherasimov, claimed that the missile traveled 14,000 kilometers (8,700 miles).

On Tuesday, Putin praised the missile's speed — more than three times the speed of sound — and its propulsion system, with small nuclear reactors that can be fired much faster than standard reactors — within seconds.

He said a NATO warship was nearby at the time the missile was tested.

The Kremlin leader also announced last week the successful test of the Poseidon nuclear super-torpedo, which military analysts say is capable of devastating coastal regions by unleashing huge radioactive waves in the ocean.

At Tuesday's ceremony, Putin said the speed of the torpedo far exceeds that of any surface ship.

Putin also stated that the small-scale nuclear technologies used in both the Burevestnik missile and the Poseidon torpedo are particularly useful for activities in the Arctic and for space travel and eventually building a station on the Moon.

The same technologies are equally useful for creating energy sources for mining rare metals, he added.

Announcement regarding the Oresnik missile

Putin also said that Russia has begun mass production of the Oresnik medium-range ballistic missile (IRBM), which Russia says was first used to attack Ukraine in November 2024.

The announcement came nearly a year after the Russian president promised in December 2024 that his country would begin mass production of Oresnik missiles “in the near future.”

Putin praised the state of Russia's defense technology and said mass production of the Oresnik missile was underway.

“We developed and deployed the Oresnik medium-range missile system, started mass production and equipped our intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched missiles with modern anti-ballistic missile systems,” he added.

Russia first deployed the experimental Oreshnik missile during an attack on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on November 21 last year, which Putin said was a retaliatory response to Ukraine's use of US and UK long-range missiles against Russian territory.

The Oresnik is designed to carry nuclear weapons, although Putin said it was not armed with a nuclear warhead during the attack on the city of Dnipro.

Putin claimed in 2024 that the Oreshnik was a new weapon that could fly at 10 times the speed of sound and could not be intercepted by Western air defense systems – a claim denied by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

While few details about the missile have been released, defense analysts believe the Oresnik is an improved version of Russia's RS-26 Rubez missile, first developed in 2011.

Zelensky recently stated that Russia is capable of producing up to six Oresshnik missiles per year. The Ukrainian leader also claimed that Ukrainian forces destroyed an Oreshnik ballistic missile in Russia in the summer of 2024.

Putin also said on Tuesday that Russia's Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) would be tested under combat conditions this year and enter the military's “combat service” in 2026.

“All our plans to create advanced weapons systems, develop the defense industrial complex and equip the Russian army and navy with modern equipment and weapons are being fulfilled,” he said.

Putin also claimed that Russia “is not a threat to anyone”.