Vladimir Putin is preparing to test Russia’s nuclear-powered 9M730 Burevestnik cruise missile just hours before his meeting with Donald Trump in Alaska, according to satellite images showing heightened activity at the Novaya Zemlya test site in the Arctic.
Analysts from the Middlebury Institute reported increased personnel, equipment, ships, and aircraft linked to previous tests, suggesting a launch could happen within days. The Burevestnik, dubbed “Skyfall” by NATO, is claimed by Moscow to have unlimited range and evade missile defences, though it has a poor test record.
The timing coincides with Friday’s summit between Putin and Trump at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, where the war in Ukraine and a possible nuclear arms deal will top the agenda. The New START treaty, the last arms-control pact between the U.S. and Russia expires in February.
Ukrainian officials have expressed concern that any deal between Trump and Putin could sideline Kyiv. MP Oleksiy Goncharenko warned that losing U.S. support would be “a disaster” for Ukraine.
The missile test comes amid rising nuclear tensions. Trump recently revealed the deployment of two U.S. nuclear submarines toward Russia, breaking with decades of Pentagon secrecy. Belarus has also announced joint nuclear drills with Moscow next month, citing NATO military activity near its borders.
