Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Russia on Tuesday tested the Poseidon — a nuclear-powered, nuclear-capable underwater torpedo — in a first-of-its-kind trial that he touted as unblockable.
The autonomous weapon is designed to cruise intercontinentally and, if detonated near coastlines, unleash “radioactive tsunamis” to wipe out port cities, according to the Associated Press. (RELATED: Four Killed In Kyiv, Ukraine After Russian Drone And Missile Attacks)
“For the first time, we managed not only to launch it with a launch engine from a carrier submarine, but also to launch the nuclear power unit on which this device passed a certain amount of time,” Putin said, calling the test “a great success” and boasting “there is nothing like this.”
TOPSHOT – Russian Navy’s diesel-electric Kilo class submarine Rostov-on-Don sails with an naval ensign of the Russian Federation, also known in Russian as The Andreyevsky Flag on it through the Bosphorus Strait on the way to the Black Sea past the city Istanbul as Sultanahmet mosque (L) and Hagia Sophia mosque (R) are seen in the backround on February 13, 2022. (Photo by OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images)
Putin claimed Poseidon’s punch exceeds even Russia’s Sarmat intercontinental missile — part of a broader nuclear flex that in recent days included a test of the Burevestnik, a nuclear-powered cruise missile, and strategic launch drills, the AP reported.
Military analysts have long warned the torpedo’s intended effect is not precision strikes but mass coastal devastation via irradiated sea surges — a doomsday concept telegraphed by Russian state animations since 2018 and echoed in fresh Russian rhetoric Wednesday.
Moscow has previously said the system will deploy on specialized submarines such as the Belgorod; Russia’s state-aligned outlets and prior reporting have described production steps toward fielding the weapon, according to Reuters.
The announcement lands as the Kremlin seeks leverage in an intensifying arms race narrative and amid its war in Ukraine.