A Russian military expert has dismissed the Kremlin’s new super weapon as a “grand-scale fraud” in a withering assessment. Vladimir Putin proudly announced the successful testing of the nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile in October.

Nicknamed the “Flying Chernobyl”, the missile reportedly can deliver a deadly nuclear payload to targets anywhere in the world. Its nuclear reactor gives it theoretically unlimited range, allowing it to travel tens of thousands of kilometres without refuelling. At a Kremlin ceremony in November, the Russian President presented state awards to the scientists behind the new Russian super-nuke.

“In terms of flight range, the Burevestnik … has surpassed all known missile systems in the world,” Putin gloated during the presentation.

The emergence of the missile has struck fear into the hearts of NATO leaders, who believe it will pose major difficulties to European air defence systems.

However, their fears may well be misplaced if the opinion of a popular Russian military blogger is to be believed.

Maxim Klimov is one of the Kremlin’s pro-war bloggers, who comments regularly on the ongoing military campaign in Ukraine.

The military expert, though, remains deeply unimpressed with the new weapon, claiming it is easy to shoot down and is a total waste of public money.

“Yeah, this thing can stay in the air for an awful long time,” he said in an interview. The problem is that, in terms of detectability, it is much easier to spot than the same old Kh-111.

“So that’s forty-two years of grand-scale embezzlement, with colossal funds siphoned off.”

Klimov has been a staunch supporter of Putin’s war and even called for the use of tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

Western experts have also dismissed the missile as a waste of time and money.

Fabian Hoffmann, research associate at the Oslo Nuclear Project at the University of Oslo, described Burevestnik on X as a “useless and superfluous” weapon.

“I celebrate every ruble Russia invests in this useless and unnecessary missile,” he wrote.