Former Russian Prime Minister Sergey Stepashin told TASS that adversaries are unlikely to dare use Tomahawk cruise missiles for strikes deep into Russian territory.
“I am confident that Tomahawks will not fly deep into Russia. Listen to what our president [Vladimir Putin] said. We also have the Burevestnik now,” Stepashin said, responding to a question about whether Russia could apply the Oreshnik missile in case of Tomahawk deliveries to Kiev.
A war that should have taken one week is now soon in its fourth year. That’s what he ought to do instead of testing missiles,” Trump told journalists aboard Air Force One.
Earlier, Putin announced the successful final test of a new nuclear-powered cruise missile, the Burevestnik.
Putin called the missile a “unique creation that no one else in the world possesses”, adding that the Burevestnik has “unlimited range”.
During the last test on October 21, the missile flew for some 15 hours, travelling 14,000 kilometres (8,700 miles), said Russia’s military chief of staff Valery Gerasimov, adding that this was not the upper limit for the weapon.
“The technical characteristics of the Burevestnik allow it to be used with guaranteed precision against highly protected sites located at any distance,” he said.
Putin announced the Russian military’s development of the missiles in 2018, saying they could evade all defence systems, amid a perceived threat from the United States.
Seven years later, the announcement of a successful final test comes as Russian forces slowly but steadily gain ground in Ukraine, grinding through Kyiv’s defences in costly battles.
The governor of the border region of Bryansk, Aleksandr Bogomaz, said on Telegram that a minibus had been struck in the village of Pogar, killing the driver and injuring five passengers.
Russian forces in total downed 47 drones in Bryansk, which borders Ukraine, as well as 40 in the Moscow region, with most of those headed towards the capital, according to the defence ministry.
Russia has kept up a near-constant barrage of drone and missile attacks — particularly on Ukraine’s energy networks — as it grinds on with the full-scale invasion it launched in February 2022.
Ukraine has increasingly responded with its own strikes targeting Russian oil refineries and other energy infrastructure.
With Agence France-Presse Inputs
