As reported by The Barents Observer, based on satellite data and information from the open-source intelligence (OSINT) analyst group AviVector, at the end of August the Russian Ministry of Defense began relocating surveillance aviation to the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, where the Pankovo test site is located, specially built for Burevestnik tests.
On August 22-23, two Il-96-300 SKIP aircraft, designated as “aircraft command and measurement points” and intended for missile launch telemetry, arrived at Rogachyovo airfield in Novaya Zemlya. A radar aircraft A-50U also landed there, along with four transport A-26 aircraft, accompanied by helicopters used to transport military personnel to the nuclear test site.
At the same time, ships in the Barents and Kara Seas used during Burevestnik tests became active. Last week, Russia issued a NOTAM notice to pilots, closing the airspace over Novaya Zemlya for flights.
One test ended in tragedy
At the end of August, The Barents Observer reminds, the traditional “window” for Burevestnik tests begins – the most exotic of Vladimir Putin’s missiles, dubbed the “flying Chernobyl” in the West. According to US intelligence data, Russia tested Burevestnik 13 times between 2018 and 2023, and all tests ended unsuccessfully, with one resulting in tragedy.
In 2019, Burevestnik fell into the Barents Sea, and during its rescue mission, an explosion occurred, killing 7 people, including scientists from the Sarov nuclear center. The radiation cloud from the incident enveloped Severodvinsk and reached Scandinavian countries.
Last year, Burevestnik tests were also prepared at the end of August. In October, V. Putin announced that the tests were “successful” and called the missile “unique and the only one of its kind in the world.”
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“These complexes <…> will ensure strategic parity, security, and Russia’s global positions for decades to come,” boasted V. Putin. Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov claimed that Burevestnik flew 14,000 km in 15 hours. However, the Russian Ministry of Defense did not release a launch video: only footage of V. Putin’s meeting with military personnel and animated clips showing the missile supposedly flying over green hills appeared in the media. In May, V. Putin stated that work on Burevestnik is in the “final stage.”
In 2023, V. Putin also spoke about a “successful” Burevestnik launch and claimed that work on the missile is “almost finished.”
Dangerous tests
In the summer of 2020, US special envoy for arms control Marshall Billingslea urged Russia to stop dangerous tests of questionable technology, The Moscow Times recalls.
“It is nothing else but a flying Chernobyl,” he lamented speaking in the Senate: without a nuclear warhead, the missile has nuclear fuel reserves, which can leave a radioactive “trail” during flight, and its crash would threaten contamination of the area.
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