Ukraine launches its largest drone strike on Moscow, setting a major oil refinery on fire in retaliation for a Russian attack on Kyiv. Concurrently, an MIT analysis of Russia's nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile reveals its design likely spews dangerous radiation from a direct-cycle engine. Experts deem the "invincible" missile an "environmental nightmare" of questionable military utility, while Russia vows retaliatory strikes for the drone attack.
Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile
- ▪A 2019 accident that killed several Russian nuclear personnel is widely believed to have been an attempt to recover a prototype Burevestnik reactor
- ▪Russian President Vladimir Putin introduced the Burevestnik missile in 2018, describing it as "invincible" against American missile defenses
- ▪During its October 2025 test, the Burevestnik missile flew in loops for several hours
- ▪Russia conducted a test of its nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile, known by NATO as Skyfall, on October 21, 2025, over the Arctic Circle
MIT reactor design analysis
- ▪The researchers estimated the missile's dimensions using Russian media videos and concluded it travels at subsonic speeds of around 575 mph (Mach .75)
- ▪MIT researchers Jake Hecla and R. Scott Kemp published an analysis detailing the likely design of Russia's Burevestnik missile
- ▪A direct-cycle system functions by forcing atmospheric air directly through the nuclear fuel in the reactor's core to generate thrust
- ▪The MIT analysis concludes the Burevestnik missile is likely powered by a direct-cycle air-breathing nuclear propulsion system driving a turbojet
Cold War nuclear aircraft programs
- ▪The Soviet Union conducted similar flight experiments in 1961 with a nuclear reactor aboard a modified Tupolev TU-95 bomber
- ▪During the 1950s and 1960s, both the U.S. and the Soviet Union researched nuclear-powered aircraft for their potential of nearly unlimited range
- ▪A U.S. program called Project Pluto developed a nuclear-powered cruise missile engine, testing a reactor on a railroad car in 1964
- ▪The U.S. tested a nuclear reactor inside a Convair B-36 bomber in 1955, but the reactor was never connected to the plane's engines
Radiation exposure from exhaust
- ▪The exhaust is calculated to contain radioactive isotopes of argon, krypton, and carbon, with more possible if the core corrodes
- ▪The missile's direct-cycle engine is highly likely to release large quantities of radioactive material in its exhaust
- ▪The MIT analysis suggests the Burevestnik missile's reactor spews radiation as it flies, posing an "enormous risk" to people near the test site
Questionable military utility
- ▪Ukraine launched its largest drone raid on Moscow since the 2022 invasion, setting a major oil refinery on fire
- ▪The targeted Kapotnya refinery supplies up to 40% of Moscow's gasoline and about 50% of its diesel fuel
- ▪Russia's foreign minister announced plans for "group strikes" on Ukraine "on a regular basis" in retaliation for the Moscow raid
- ▪Scholar Jeffrey Lewis described the Burevestnik missile as an "environmental nightmare" and "kind of useless."
- ▪Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the attack was a response to a recent Russian strike on a Kyiv monastery complex
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