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two u.s. researchers said they had found possible deployment sites for russia's petrel, a new nuclear-powered cruise missile capable of carrying nuclear weapons that russian president vladimir putin once called "invincible," reuters reported on september 2.

putin has said the missile, known as skyfall by nato, has an almost unlimited range and is able to evade u.s. missile defenses.

but some western experts have questioned putin's claims and the strategic value of the petrel missile, arguing that it does not give moscow additional capabilities and poses a potential risk of radiation leakage.

using images taken on july 26 by commercial satellite company planet labs, two researchers spotted a construction project adjacent to a nuclear warhead storage facility that they believe could be the site of the petrel missiles. the facility is located in vologda, about 295 miles (475 kilometers) north of moscow.

decker everest, an analyst at the center for naval analysis, discovered nine horizontal launch pads under construction through satellite images. he said the launch pads are divided into three groups and are placed in high fences to protect them from attacks or to prevent one group from accidentally exploding and detonating other missiles.

▲ satellite images of what is believed to be the deployment site of russia's "haiyan" missiles show suspected nuclear warhead storage bunkers (right) and launch pads (lower left) in vologda, russia. (reuters)

the fence is connected by roads to buildings and five existing nuclear warhead storage bunkers, which everest believes are likely where missiles and their components are serviced.

the base is "for large, fixed missile systems, and the only large, fixed missile system they (russia) are currently developing is the skyfall missile," everest said.

the russian defense ministry and the russian embassy in the united states did not respond to requests for comment on everest’s assessment or the strategic value, test record and potential risks of the petrel missile.

a kremlin spokesman said those questions were for the defense ministry to answer and declined to comment further.

the u.s. state department, the central intelligence agency, the office of the director of national intelligence and the u.s. air force's national air and space intelligence center all declined to comment.

everest and another researcher, jeffrey lewis of the middlebury institute of international studies, said the discovery of a possible launch site for the petrel missiles means russia is preparing to deploy the new missile again after a series of test problems in recent years.

lewis agreed with everest's assessment after reviewing the satellite images, saying they "show something very unique, very different. and clearly, we know that the russians are developing this nuclear-powered missile."

hans kristensen of the federation of american scientists, who also studied the satellite images at everest's request, said they appeared to show launch pads and other features "likely" to be associated with the haiyan missile. but he said a definitive assessment could not be made because moscow does not typically place missile launchers next to nuclear warhead storage facilities.

everest, lewis, kristensen and three other experts said moscow’s normal practice is to store nuclear warheads for land-based missiles — except those deployed on intercontinental ballistic missiles — away from launch sites.

but lewis and everest noted that basing petrel missiles in vologda would allow the russian military to store the nuclear missiles nearby, allowing them to be launched quickly.

according to a report by the russian official news agency tass on the 1st, russian deputy foreign minister sergei ryabkov said that russia will revise its guidelines for the use of nuclear weapons in response to western countries' actions to further escalate the russia-ukraine conflict.

source: reference news