Russia has launched its latest nuclear submarine, the Khabarovsk, as part of an expanding weapons program. Katarzyna Zysk, a defense analyst in Oslo, tells DW the launch signals a strategic shift in Russia's military posture — and comes amid two recent nuclear weapons tests.

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Russian forces have invaded Ukraine from land, air and sea with strikes causing widespread damage. Global leaders have condemned the move and imposed sanctions.

Ukraine Invasion

Russia has unveiled the Khabarovsk, a nuclear-powered submarine specifically designed to deploy the Poseidon nuclear-powered and nuclear-capable underwater drone. Unlike its predecessor, the Belgorod, which was converted from an older vessel, Khabarovsk was purpose-built for this mission, marking an advancement in Russia's strategic nuclear capabilities.

According to defence analyst Katarzyna Zysk, the Khabarovsk and its Poseidon drone represent a new category of strategic nuclear weapons, featuring technological advances such as miniaturized nuclear propulsion and long-range underwater navigation. While NATO does not possess a comparable system, the introduction of this submarine may prompt increased investment in undersea detection and countermeasures by Western powers.

Russia unveils new nuclear submarine

And I'm joined now by Katarzyna Zysk. She is a security and defence analyst at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies in Oslo. Good to have you on the programme. So please tell us, what makes this new Russian submarine so special? Well, Khabarovsk is, as it was said, one of Russia's newest nuclear-powered submarines that are designed specifically to carry the Poseidon nuclear-powered and nuclear-capable underwater drone. And unlike the Belograd, which was the first submarine that was dedicated to this mission to carry Poseidon, which was converted from an older submarine, Khabarovsk was engineered specifically for this mission. So basically, it takes Russia a step closer toward making these submarines and Poseidon a permanent component of the Russian strategic nuclear arsenal. And how big a leap, if any, in military technology and capabilities is this new submarine? Well, it represents a new category of strategic nuclear weapons. So this submarine and, of course, its weapon, the Poseidon, where Russia tries to apply some of the new technologies, such as unmanned weapon systems, to this nuclear mission. So this combines several technological advances, such as miniaturised nuclear propulsion, long-range underwater navigation. Reportedly, it's capable of high speeds, deep diving capability, which will make the detection quite difficult. So while it may not necessarily represent a revolution in military affairs, provided it will become a permanent element of the Russian nuclear arsenal, these may prompt improvements on NATO sites in the US, for instance, on detection, tracking and countermeasures, provided we will actually be able to confirm the capabilities that the submarines and Poseidon actually have. So when we talk about the submarine and its weapon systems, are we talking about primarily defensive or an offensive submarine? Well, so Russia presented, of course, as a deterrent, meaning as a guaranteed retaliation in order to prevent a war. But we have to understand that in the Russian strategic thinking, the offence and defence is very closely intertwined. And Russia perceived, for instance, a preemptive strike as a legitimate form of defence. But in the case of this particular weapon itself as a Poseidon, it is offensive by nature. It is designed to threaten a massive destruction, not to protect Russian territory. It is engineered to destroy probably high value targets such as cities, coastal cities, naval bases, strike groups, reportedly by creating through detonations, sort of generate radioactive tsunamis and a massive destruction. So this weapon is basically designed to strengthen the fear factor, increase intimidation, coercion. So this is also a psychological weapon which can be used even without the actual nuclear use. So what about NATO? Does NATO have anything similar in its arsenal? Nothing comparable, no. So NATO's nuclear arsenal remains based on the three basic traditional triad legs. So land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles and strategic bombers. The United States, UK and France, they have advanced nuclear submarines, but none of them carry nuclear-powered drones like Poseidon. So Western powers rely on tested command and control systems rather than semi-autonomous nuclear weapons such as the Poseidon. Could Khabarovsk have any impact, any significance for the war in Ukraine? Well, not directly because this kind of weapons and this kind of submarines will not be normally used in the case of local wars such as Ukraine. But indirectly, this is a part of the Russian effort to use nuclear weapons to expand its nuclear arsenal, both the types of nuclear warheads and also the delivery systems such as Poseidon, in order to strengthen its strategic and nuclear deterrence. Which, as we've seen over the past three years, Russia has extensively used in order to, for instance, intimidate, to coerce, attempted coercion of Western states to limit their support for Ukraine. So it certainly demonstrates that Russia is committed to continue leveraging nuclear weapons to pursue its political objectives. So, Katarzyna, we have 30 seconds left, so it's a yes or no answer. But do you expect that this new submarine could trigger a new underwater warfare arms race? So, it depends. I'm sorry, I cannot say yes or no. It depends whether we will be able to confirm what actually Poseidon is capable of, but it will certainly increase, I think, it may increase investment in undersea capabilities, anti-submarine warfare, tracking detection, etc. OK. Defence analyst Katarzyna Zyskiewa, thank you so very much. Thank you. For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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Russia unveils new nuclear submarine

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