Moscow has said that if the US resume nuclear weapons testing it will do so too, sparking fears of a renewed arms race.
The remarks by a Kremlin official on Thursday came after Donald Trump said he had ordered the US military to resume testing “immediately”.
Trump made the announcement after Vladimir Putin announced a successful test of a Poseidon nuclear-powered submarine torpedo which experts have warned is capable of causing a “radioactive tsunami”. The Russian president said the test of the weapon had been a “great success”, in a move that came days after Trump described Moscow’s test of a nuclear missile as a mistake.
There are few confirmed details about the Poseidon in the public domain but experts say it is capable of triggering radioactive ocean swells to render coastal cities uninhabitable, according to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.
Putin last week held a nuclear launch drill and on Sunday announced that Russia has successfully tested its nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile, a nuclear-capable weapon Moscow says can pierce any defence shield.
Child among seven killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid
At least seven people, including a seven-year-old girl, was injured after Russia launched a barrage of drones and missiles at Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and other targets yesterday, officials said.
Regional officials said two men were killed in the southeastern industrial city of Zaporizhzhia, and a seven-year-old girl from the central Vinnytsia region died in hospital from injuries sustained in the attacks.
The regional governor said a later drone strike on a village south of Zaporizhzhia killed one person and injured another.
Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko accused Moscow of targeting Ukrainian people and power supplies as the cold winter months approach.
“Its goal is to plunge Ukraine into darkness. Ours is to preserve the light,” Svyrydenko said on the Telegram app. “To stop the terror, we need more air defence systems, tougher sanctions, and maximum pressure on the aggressor,” she said.
From airspace violations to drone incursions: How Putin is provoking Ukraine’s European allies over land, air and sea
Concern has mounted since September, when nearly two dozen drones crossed over into Poland amid a large-scale Russian drone attack on Ukraine. Days later, three Russian military jets violated Estonia’s airspace for 12 minutes.
Subsequent activity near the border has forced European countries to close airports and borders, and to reconsider how equipped they are to deal with foreign intrusions.
Analysts say that Russia is deliberately provoking Nato to see how it reacts, gathering information that might be useful when it decides the time is right to make a move against an alliance member.
Trump given stark warnings over his nuclear testing plan
Trump’s decision to resume nuclear weapons tests in the US is facing domestic criticism – and a stark warning it could lead to escalation.
Representative Dina Titus, a Democratic member of the U.S. Congress from Nevada, condemned the move, saying on X: “I’ll be introducing legislation to put a stop to this.”
Daryl Kimball, director of the Arms Control Association think tank, said it would take the US at least 36 months to resume contained nuclear tests underground at the former test site in Nevada.
“Trump is misinformed and out of touch. The US has no technical, military or political reason to resume nuclear explosive testing for the first time since 1992,” he said on X.
Trump’s announcement, he added, could “trigger a chain reaction of nuclear testing by US adversaries, and blow apart the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.”
Everything we know about Putin’s new nuclear-armed underwater drone Poseidon
President Vladimir Putin says Russia has conducted a successful test of a new atomic-powered and nuclear-capable underwater drone, declaring that the new weapon can’t be intercepted.
Speaking at a meeting with soldiers wounded in Ukraine, Putin said the Poseidon drone was tested while running on nuclear power for the first time Tuesday, describing it as a “huge success.”
He said Poseidon is unmatched in speed and depth and “there is no way to intercept it.”
He said the nuclear reactor that powers Poseidon is “100 times smaller” than those on submarines, and the power of its nuclear warhead is “significantly higher than that of our prospective Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile”.
Read more here:
Trump could ‘trigger a chain reaction’, says arms control director
Daryl Kimball, the executive director of the Washington-based Arms Control Association, called Trump “misinformed and out of touch” after he announced that the US would be testing nuclear weapons.
“By foolishly announcing his intention to resume nuclear testing, Trump will trigger strong public opposition in Nevada, from all U.S. allies, and it could trigger a chain reaction of nuclear testing by U.S. adversaries, and blow apart the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
Trump is misinformed and out of touch. The U.S. has no technical, military, or political reason to resume nuclear explosive testing for the first time since 1992. It would take least 36 months to resume contained nuclear tests underground at the former test site in Nevada. 1/ pic.twitter.com/wdTRf9EwVo
— Daryl G Kimball (@DarylGKimball) October 30, 2025
UN secretary-general says ‘nuclear testing can never be permitted’
The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attacked Trump’s order to the US military to test nuclear weapons, saying the “current nuclear risks are already alarmingly high.”
“We must never forget the disastrous legacy of over 2,000 nuclear weapons tests carried out over the last 80 years.
“Nuclear testing can never be permitted under any circumstances.”
Russian attack on energy system kills six people, including seven-year-old girl
Russia has killed six people, including a seven-year-old girl, in its latest round of attacks on Ukraine’s energy system.
Regional officials said two men were killed in the southeastern industrial city of Zaporizhzhia, and a seven-year-old girl from the central Vinnytsia region died in hospital from injuries sustained in the attacks.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address that a bomb attack on a thermal power plant in Slovyansk killed two people and injured several others.
Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko has accused Moscow of targeting Ukrainian people and power supplies as the cold winter months approach.
Svyrydenko said: “Its goal is to plunge Ukraine into darkness. Ours is to preserve the light.
“To stop the terror, we need more air defence systems, tougher sanctions, and maximum pressure on the aggressor.”
How many nuclear weapons are there in the world and who has the most?
James C Reynolds and Maryam Zakir-Hussain look at what countries are armed with nuclear weapons:
Watch: Vance brags about his Oval Office ambush on Zelensky
US nuclear weapons test a ‘reckless decision’, says US senator
Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey has condemned Trump’s decision to test nuclear weapons, calling it a “reckless decision”.
“Donald Trump just directed the Pentagon to test nuclear weapons before meeting with China,” he said in a post on X.
“The US has not conducted a nuclear test since 1992 and we must not resume. This is a reckless decision that will only make us less safe and lead to a new nuclear arms race.”
