MOSCOW — Russia test-fired a nuclear-capable Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile from one of its newest strategic submarines on Wednesday, the Russian Defence Ministry said, in a launch reported hours after President Vladimir Putin held a rare phone call with the leaders of Finland and Norway.

Source: Europe Says via TASS / Russian Defence Ministry

The ministry said the Pacific Fleet's Project 955A Borei-A submarine Generalissimus Suvorov (K-553) launched the missile from a submerged position in the Sea of Okhotsk toward the Chizha test range in Russia's Arkhangelsk region, in accordance with the crew's combat training plan. The ministry said monitoring data confirmed the missile's warhead units reached the designated area of the range at the scheduled time — a claim presented as the ministry's own account and not independently verified in the reports cited.

Defence Blog and Army Recognition, reporting the same ministry announcement on October 28, said the firing was a scheduled training launch and noted that the Generalissimus Suvorov entered service in December 2022 and is now based with the Pacific Fleet in Kamchatka, after transferring from the Northern Fleet in October 2023.

Source: Defence Blog

16Bulava missiles carried by each Borei / Borei-A submarine
8,300 kmEstimated Bulava range cited by CSIS (about 5,160 miles)
3,400 milesApproximate distance the missile was reported to have travelled across Russia

Reporting on the launch said the Chizha range, on the Kanin Peninsula by the Barents Sea, lies roughly 320 miles from Vardø in Norway and about 386 miles from Nuorgam in Finland — both NATO members. Each Borei and Borei-A submarine carries 16 Bulava missiles, and the weapon, also designated RSM-56, has an estimated range of 8,300 kilometres, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies figures cited in the reports.

The timing drew attention because Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre had initiated a call with Putin on Tuesday to urge de-escalation in Ukraine and discuss planned trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi, according to the Finnish presidency's readout. The Kremlin said the Nordic leaders had requested the conversation. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was reported as saying nothing new was discussed and warning the war was likely to escalate — that characterisation is Moscow's, as reported, not an agreed account of the call.

Why it matters

Moscow presented the launch as routine training, but a nuclear-capable missile flown across the whole country to a range near NATO's northern flank, on the heels of a de-escalation call, is also a signal — to NATO capitals weighing air defence and deterrence, and to negotiators preparing the Abu Dhabi track.