Putin Vows to Perfect Mystery Rocket After Engine Blast
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| Mr Putin met widows of the victims |
Five
engineers and two others died when a rocket engine exploded at a test range on
the White Sea on 8 August.
Defence
experts think it was part of a nuclear-powered cruise missile.
"We
will certainly be perfecting this weapon regardless of anything," Mr Putin
told widows of the victims.
The possession of
"such unique technologies", he added, was "in itself... a most
significant and reliable guarantee for peace on the planet".
The
Russian leader was speaking on Thursday at a ceremony at the Kremlin to present
posthumous awards to the dead men's families.
He
did not specify what weapon had been involved, saying only that the
"technical ideas and solutions" involved in the project were
"without an equivalent in the world".
Engineers had
completed testing on an offshore platform at the Nyonoksa naval test range when
a fire broke out and the engine exploded, throwing the men into the sea,
according to Russia's nuclear agency Rosatom.
In
addition to the seven killed, six people were injured as a result of the blast,
which saw radiation levels rise 16 times above normal in the nearest big city,
Severodvinsk, 47km (29 miles) away from Nyonoksa.
While the radiation
levels were not high enough to cause radiation sickness, medical staff who
treated casualties from the blast site were not warned of any nuclear
contamination risk.
The
clean-up operation was shrouded in secrecy.
Russia has only
confirmed that a nuclear-powered engine was being tested at the time.
There
is also some speculation that it could have been an anti-ship missile or
long-range underwater drone but experts in Russia and the West say the test was
most likely linked to the new 9M730 Burevestnik missile, called
"Skyfall" by Nato.
President
Putin has described the Burevestnik as having "unlimited" range.
It
is designed to act as a "vengeance" weapon, to be used after an
initial nuclear strike.
FROM .bbc.com/news/world-europe-
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