It also followed new rounds of Western sanctions targeting Russian oil revenue. A show of nuclear-powered strength serves multiple purposes: to warn Western capitals against deepening their involvement in Ukraine; to impress domestic audiences weary of a protracted war; and to remind the Global South that Russia still commands technological daring in defiance of Western-led isolation.

Yet this self-assertion betrays a certain desperation. Russia's conventional military machine has been ground down in Ukraine. Sanctions constrain its industrial base and its economy is increasingly reliant on discounted oil exports to China and India.

When conventional power falters, symbolic power becomes paramount. The flying Chernobyl is thus less a weapon of war than a weapon of messaging.

What makes this tit-for-tat episode so potentially destabilizing is not the Russian weapon itself but what it represents: the erosion of boundaries that once kept nuclear competition in check.

Since the 1990s, most arms control regimes have decayed-the INF Treaty, the Open Skies Treaty and the confidence-building measures that bound Russia to Europe under the OSCE.

The testing of a nuclear-powered missile drives another nail into that coffin. It tells the world that the line between conventional and nuclear escalation has blurred beyond recognition.

If Russia's claim proves true, it sets a precedent other powers may emulate. China is already investing in hypersonic glide vehicles; the US is exploring new nuclear- and sea-launched systems.

Once Moscow demonstrates that taboo weapons can be flaunted without meaningful consequence, restraint elsewhere may evaporate. Arms control was never about moral purity-it was about predictability. Today, even that thin layer of predictability is gone.

The surge of Russia's lethality is therefore as performative as it is practical. It speaks to a leadership obsessed with demonstrating that Moscow cannot be ignored or contained.

In a world of fragmented alliances and declining Western unity, such performance carries weight. Every announcement of a“miracle weapon” buys Moscow time, leverage and headlines. It shifts the narrative from retreat to resurgence, even when battlefield reality tells a different story.

For small and medium states-especially those in Southeast Asia-this theater has sobering implications. The precedent that great powers can toy with radioactive propulsion or hypersonic delivery systems without consequence deepens insecurity across regions already struggling to maintain strategic autonomy.

If Europe is again living with the fear of fallout, Asia must brace for its own version of brinkmanship.

Russia's“flying Chornobyl” test is part of a broader pattern: the contagion of escalation. When one great power flexes, others feel compelled to respond. The US will be pressured to invest more in missile defence and retaliate with new nuclear tests.

China will likely accelerate its nuclear modernization program. India, Pakistan and even North Korea will draw their own conclusions about the utility of nuclear signaling. Each step that raises the bar of destructive potential lowers the threshold for catastrophe.

The human and environmental stakes are staggering. A nuclear-powered missile that crashes would scatter radioactive debris across whatever land or sea it fell upon.

During the Soviet Union's earlier tests, several prototypes failed catastrophically, leaving contamination zones that persist to this day. To repeat such folly in 2025, under the shadow of a war already scarring Europe, is to treat the planet as collateral.

Trump's nuclear rhetoric adds another accelerant. The contagion is no longer theoretical; it is trans-Atlantic. What was once an arms-control consensus now risks devolving into competitive testing-a return to the radioactive theater of the 1950s.

Sign up for one of our free newsletters

• The Daily Report Start your day right with Asia Times' top stories
• AT Weekly Report A weekly roundup of Asia Times' most-read stories

Economic decay meets military bravado

The Guardian's report also noted the tightening noose of Western sanctions, particularly on Russia's energy sector. In that sense, the missile test may be a diversion from economic distress.

As revenues shrink and war costs mount, the Kremlin seeks victory in symbolism. Each demonstration of“limitless range” or“invincible weaponry” distracts from the domestic austerity and loss of life. The Soviet Union once followed this path-prioritizing prestige projects over prosperity. History remembers how that ended.

The surge of Russia's lethality is not only about missiles; it is about mindset. It reflects the belief that coercion still works, that fear still wins. But the long arc of international relations shows that societies built on fear exhaust themselves.

Power sustained by paranoia eventually implodes. The actual test of statesmanship, therefore, is not how loudly one can threaten, but how wisely one can restrain.

The world cannot afford a return to the radioactive experiments of the past. Every kilometer that the Burevestnik supposedly travelled is a mile stolen from humanity's sense of safety. Every threat of new nuclear testing echoes an era the world should have by now left behind.

If the 21^st century is to avoid repeating the nightmares of the 20th, the lesson is clear: technological power without moral restraint leads not to deterrence but to decay and eventually unthinkable disaster.

Phar Kim Beng is professor of ASEAN Studies and director, Institute of International and ASEAN Studies, International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM); Luthfy Hamzah is research fellow, Institute of International and ASEAN Studies; Dr Yu-Wai Vic Li is lecturer, Centre of East Asian Studies, University of Sheffield

Sign up here to comment on Asia Times stories Or Sign in to an existing accoun

Thank you for registering!

An account was already registered with this email. Please check your inbox for an authentication link.

• Click to share on X (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedI
• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Faceboo
• Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsAp
• Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddi
• Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Emai
• Click to print (Opens in new window) Prin