Russia successfully test-fired a cruise missilethe Russian president, Vladimir Putin, claimed yesterday in Sochi, according to the BBC.

The Russian president made the statement after his spokesman denied a New York Times report that a test of the weapon, known as the Burevestnik, was imminent.

Russia announced the existence of the weapon, which is in an experimental stage, for the first time in 2018. and described it as a weapon with potentially unlimited range. It is said to be powered by a nuclear reactor and capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

However, little is officially known about its capabilities while there are reports that previous tests of it have failed.

Putin’s claim has not been independently confirmed and there has been no word so far from the Russian Defense Ministry.

However, satellite images released last month showed that Russia had recently built new facilities at a remote Arctic site where Soviet nuclear tests were previously conducted.

The images showed construction work on Novaya Zemlya, an island archipelago in the northern Barents Sea.

“Now we have practically finished work on the modern types of strategic weapons that I talked about and announced a few years ago,” Putin said at a meeting in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Thursday, which was broadcast live on state television .

He added “a final successful test of the Burevestnik, a global nuclear cruise missile, has taken place.”

The missile, codenamed Skyfall by NATO, is said to be powered by a nuclear reactor, which is supposed to be activated after solid-fuel rocket boosters launch it into the air.

However, the New York Times cites information from the Nuclear Threat Initiative group, according to which the previous 13 known tests of the system between 2017 and 2019 were all unsuccessful.

Putin also claimed that work had been completed on an intercontinental ballistic missile, called the Sarmat.