Russia has launched a brand-new nuclear weapon in a round-the-world missile test, the country's defence chief has said.
The "Burevestnik" rocket is both nuclear-powered and nuclear-capable. It boasts an almost unlimited range and an unpredictable flight path.
The missile travelled 14,000 km (8,700 miles) and was in the air for 15 hours in total.
On Sunday, a statement confirmed that Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov had informed Vladimir Putin of the test.
MAPPED: Where might this weekend's missile have been launched, and where could it hit?
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Mr Putin has said the 9M730 Burevestnik (Storm Petrel) - known as the SSC-X-9 Skyfall to Nato - is "invincible".
The weapon is about 12 metres long, was first unveiled in 2018, and forms one of six Russian so-called "super-weapons" in Mr Putin's arsenal.
This weekend's Burevestnik tests have now been completed - with work now set to start on a final stage of testing before the missiles are deployed.
Just after 6am GMT, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that President Putin had travelled to a military command post for top-level talks.
A Yars rocket was test-fired from the Plesetsk launch facility in northwest Russia (file photo)
| RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTRYThere, he met General Gerasimov and more Russian top dogs.
"All of them gave the supreme commander-in-chief a detailed report on the situation along the line of contact," Mr Peskov said.
Just four days earlier, Russia had launched a volley of missiles from a submarine in the Barents Sea, the icy stretch of water off Russia's north coast.
The sub launched a Sineva intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), while a Yars rocket was test-fired from the Plesetsk launch facility in northwest Russia.
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| GB NEWSIn August this year, satellite imagery from Planet Labs was said to have shown test preparations of the Burevestnik at Russia's Pan'kovo test range - again on Novaya Zemlya in the High North.
It remains unclear whether this weekend's missile was launched from Pan'kovo.
Nearby, Norway's Defence Minister warned that Russia is "building up" on the Kola peninsula - where "one of the largest arsenals of nuclear warheads in the world is located".
Tore Sandvik revealed that Mr Putin's navy was amassing just miles from the Norwegian border.
PICTURED: Defence Secretary John Healey and Norwegian Defence Minister Tore Sandvik
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Nato members, mapped: Who makes up the alliance? | GB NEWSHe told The Telegraph: "We are the eyes and ears of Nato in this area, and we see that they're testing new weapons, for example hypersonic missiles, and they are testing nuclear-driven torpedoes and nuclear warheads.
"Even though Putin is losing heavily in Ukraine he has lost one million soldiers the Northern Fleet is intact. And they are developing it."
Recent additions to the Arctic flotilla include a newly constructed frigate and a multi-purpose submarine, completed within the past two years.