Elena Teslova
12 May 2026•Update: 12 May 2026
President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Russia has achieved nuclear capabilities with “no counterparts in the world” as work on improving its nuclear deterrence forces has continued uninterrupted since the early 2000s.
“At that time, frankly speaking, we had other priorities. Russia was going through a very difficult period in its history,” Putin said during a video conference with Strategic Missile Forces Commander Sergey Karakayev devoted to the successful test of the Sarmat missile.
Putin went on to say that after the US withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM Treaty) in 2002, Moscow was forced to think about ensuring strategic security under new realities and preserving the strategic balance of forces and parity.
“That is why, once again, Russia began developing advanced systems with no counterparts in the world, capable of guaranteed penetration of existing and future missile defense systems,” he said.
Putin noted that in 2004, work began on the Avangard intercontinental-range missile system, which has been on combat duty since 2019.
“Then came the Kinzhal medium-range air-launched hypersonic missile, which has been on combat duty since 2017. It is already being used during the special military operation (Ukraine), but work on improving it, including increasing its accuracy in non-nuclear configuration, continues,” he said.
Since 2025, the Oreshnik ground-based medium-range missile system has also entered combat duty. It can likewise be equipped with nuclear warheads, he said.
“Work is in the final stage on two systems with compact nuclear-powered propulsion units, the unique Poseidon unmanned underwater vehicle and the unique Burevestnik global-range cruise missile,” he remarked.
Work began on the Sarmat system in 2011, and in 2018, the project and the advantages of these new advanced missile systems were publicly announced, he said.
“What exactly was being discussed then, and what are the advantages of our system? First, it is the most powerful missile system in the world, not inferior in power to the Voyevoda missile system currently in service, which, as has just been mentioned, was still Soviet-produced,” he said.
Other advantages include the fact that the total yield of its delivered warhead exceeds that of any existing Western equivalent by more than four times.
The missile can travel not only along a ballistic trajectory but also along a suborbital one, which allows it to achieve a range exceeding 35,000 kilometers (27,747 miles) while simultaneously doubling its accuracy, he said.
“And finally, it is capable of overcoming all existing and future missile defense systems. By the end of this year, Sarmat will indeed be placed on combat duty,” he added.
