Russia readies for Burevestnik test season

Russia's two Il-976 SKIP command and telemetry aircraft have arrived at Rogachevo air base on Novaya Zemlya, recent satellite imagery shows. The first of the distinctive large, bluish aircraft, derived from the Ilyushin Il-76 transport aircraft, arrived last week. The second arrived between 22 and 23 August, according to open-source intelligence group AviVector.

“We are seeing similar activity again this August. In particular, our satellite imagery indicates the arrival of A-50U aircraft and two Il-976 SKIP aircraft at Rogachevo air base,” the group said in an email to the Barents Observer.

AviVector is known for tracking Russian military and civil aviation and provides detailed analysis based on satellite imagery.

The Il-976 SKIP is equipped with specialised tracking and monitoring equipment, including systems for detecting radiation. The Beriev A-50U, meanwhile, is a modernised airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft, recognisable by its large rotating radar rotodome.

Four An-26 aircraft and one An-74D, registration RA-74047, are also currently at Rogachevo air base. They are joined by helicopters used to transport personnel to Pankovo and Severnaya, a settlement on the shore of Matochkin Shar, where Russia operates its main nuclear weapons testing range.

Rogachevo is the only airport on Novaya Zemlya. It is located approximately 9 km east of Belushya Guba, the archipelago's main military settlement.

Over the past decade, Russia has built a comprehensive launch complex at Pankovo, around 170 kilometres north of Rogachevo, dedicated to the Burevestnik test programme. Last year, the Barents Observer published a detailed satellite imagery analysis of the Pankovo site.

This week, part of the Barents Sea outside the launch area is subject to flight restrictions through a NOTAM, or Notice to Airmen. The closure of airspace and waters around the archipelago and to its west has become common practice between August and October in recent years.

Several ships are currently positioned on both the western and eastern sides of Novaya Zemlya. They are believed to be involved in monitoring test flights, observing the missile's impact in the sea and supporting subsequent recovery operations.

15-hour reactor-powered flight

In late October 2025, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov told Vladimir Putin that a successful Burevestnik test had taken place, with the missile reportedly flying 14,000 km and remaining airborne for about 15 hours. The test flight was later confirmed by Norway's military intelligence, which had observed the event from a distance.

Novaya Zemlya stretches approximately 850 km from its southern tip to its northernmost point. If the Burevestnik did indeed fly 14,000 km, the missile must either have followed a complex route around the Arctic archipelago or travelled much farther across Russia's northern regions.

Covering 14,000 km in 15 hours would correspond to an average speed of approximately 933 km/h, or 580 mph.

Putin first publicly promoted the Burevestnik in 2018, presenting it as a weapon with effectively unlimited range and the ability to manoeuvre in flight to evade enemy missile defence systems.

At the time, however, Russia's nuclear weapons designers faced a major problem: the missile was still far from operational.

Later that year, the Barents Observer published its first report on Norwegian concerns about possible radioactive contamination from testing at Novaya Zemlya. Tests of a reactor-powered cruise missile can result in radioactive releases because the highly enriched uranium reactor is believed to use an open-cycle air-cooling system during flight rather than a closed cooling circuit.

Nenoksa explosion

A year after Putin publicly confirmed that Russia was developing the new nuclear weapons delivery system, a serious accident occurred.

The Barents Observer was the first foreign media outlet to report on the explosion in the White Sea near the Nenoksa missile test site on 8 August 2019. The accident killed five Rosatom experts and caused a temporary spike in radiation levels in the nearby city of Severodvinsk.

The explosion occurred on board a barge shortly after the recovery of a reactor unit from the seabed.

Following the accident, testing of the missile was moved to the remote Arctic archipelago of Novaya Zemlya.

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