Russia has tested a new nuclear-capable missile, Putin and top general say

MOSCOW Russia AP Russia tested a new nuclear-capable and powered cruise missile fit to confound existing defenses inching closer to deploying it to its military President Vladimir Putin claimed in remarks issued on Sunday Putin dressed in camouflage fatigues could be seen meeting with senior Russian military figures according to a video disclosed by the Kremlin The footage exhibited Gen Valery Gerasimov Russia s chief of general staff telling the Russian leader that the Burevestnik covered kilometers miles in a key test Tuesday Gerasimov disclosed the Burevestnik or Storm Petrel in Russian spent hours in the air adding that s not the limit We need to determine the doable uses and begin preparing the infrastructure for deploying these weapons to our armed forces Putin advised Gerasimov in the video and instructed him to work on the missile s final tests Putin also claimed it was invulnerable to current and future missile defenses due to its almost unlimited range and unpredictable flight path On Wednesday Putin directed drills of Russia s strategic nuclear forces that featured practice missile launches The exercise came as his planned summit on Ukraine with U S President Donald Trump was put on hold The Kremlin mentioned that the maneuvers involved all parts of Moscow s nuclear triad including intercontinental ballistic missiles that were test-fired from launch facilities in northwestern Russia and a submarine in the Barents Sea The drills also involved Tu- strategic bombers firing long-range cruise missiles The exercise tested the skills of military command structures the Kremlin disclosed in a comment on Wednesday Source