Russia has announced that it has successfully test-fired the nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile, an “infinite-range” weapon that Vladimir Putin describes as unique in the world. The test has sparked international concern and reactions from the United States and Europe, while experts question its practical value and safety, calling it a high-risk political venture.

Russia announced that this particular missile, thanks to its ability to fly low and follow the topography of the terrain, could bypass US anti-missile defense systems and carry nuclear payloads anywhere on Earth.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that the Burevestnik missile, which means “seabird of the storm,” is “a truly unique weapon that no other country has.”

The development has sparked international concern, with US President Donald Trump saying on Monday it was “inappropriate” to conduct such tests at a time when Russia should be focusing on peace talks with Ukraine.

However, many Western analysts question the value of the missile, codenamed “Skyfall” by NATO. Some see it as offering no capabilities that Russia doesn’t already possess, while others deride Moscow’s move as a waste of money. At the same time, there are serious safety concerns, as the small nuclear reactor that powers the rocket could, according to experts, cause a radioactive disaster.

“The main reason no other country has tried to build something like this is that it doesn’t really have any use,” Pavel Podvig, a senior researcher at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, told NBC News.

According to Podvig, the weapon is primarily of a political nature. He, who is based in Geneva and heads the Russian Nuclear Forces Project, added that “it was important for the Kremlin, I think, to show that this is something unique, an achievement that no other country has achieved so far.”

Donald Trump pointed out on Monday that there are other ways to transport nuclear warheads.

“We have a nuclear submarine, the best in the world, right off their shores,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One. A rocket, he added, “doesn’t need to travel 8,000 miles.”

“We test missiles all the time,” he said. “They don’t play games with us and we don’t play with them either.”

The Kremlin said it saw no reason for the test to “worsen relations between Moscow and Washington,” which are already strained after the planned Putin-Trump summit was canceled.

The test was announced on Sunday by Vladimir Putin and General Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the Russian General Staff, who appeared together in a video wearing camouflage uniforms.

Gerasimov informed the president that the missile flew for 15 hours and covered 8,700 miles during a test last Tuesday, a feat he called a record, though not the maximum limit of its range.

He spoke of “guaranteed accuracy against highly protected targets at any distance” and emphasized that the system has a “high ability to avoid anti-missile and anti-aircraft systems”.

Gerasimov added that it was the first time the rocket had made a “multi-hour flight”. However, Burevestnik is not just a new weapon as it was first announced by Vladimir Putin in March 2018.

The missile uses a reactor, essentially a “miniature nuclear plant,” to heat air to temperatures of nearly 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit, powering a ramjet engine that, according to a 2019 report by the US non-governmental organization Nuclear Threat Initiative, could keep it in flight for several days.

The United States and the Soviet Union had considered developing this technology during the Cold War, but abandoned it because of the same concerns that experts point to today.

Those fears were confirmed in 2019, when an explosion off the coast of the Russian Arctic killed five scientists and raised radiation levels in a nearby town. Experts, as well as the US government, later assessed that it was probably a failed Burevestnik test.

Norway said on Monday that last week’s test took place from an archipelago in the Barents Sea.

“We can confirm that Russia conducted a new test launch of the long-range Skyfall (Burevestnik) cruise missile at Novaya Zemlya,” Vice Admiral Nils Andreas Stensenes, head of Norway’s intelligence agency, told Reuters in a statement.

The missile is considered a “second-strike” weapon, designed to be used as Russia’s response to a nuclear attack. However, according to Pavel Podvig and other experts, such an attack would likely also target Burevestnik’s launch platforms, and the missile would be easily detected due to its long flight time.

Podvig and other analysts see this week’s announcement as primarily a political response to Trump’s plans for the “Golden Dome” missile defense system in the United States.

Others see Vladimir Putin’s announcement as a reaction to sanctions imposed on Russia this month by the European Union and the United States.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did little to dispel that impression when asked about it during Monday’s daily briefing.

“Ensuring security is a matter of vital importance for Russia, especially given the militaristic climate we are hearing at the moment, especially from the European side,” he said.

“Despite our willingness to open a dialogue with the United States, Russia, and primarily its president, is guided by our national interests,” Peskov added.

Some analysts, such as Fabian Hoffmann, a researcher at the University of Oslo’s Oslo Nuclear Project, showed little concern. “I celebrate every ruble that Russia invests in this useless and unnecessary missile,” he wrote on the X platform.