The test comes days after President Vladimir V. Putin announced the previous trial of another Russian nuclear weapon.

Trump ordered the U.S. military to resume nuclear weapons testing. Why were they stopped and why restart now? What to know.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, dressed in a military uniform, announced on Oct. 26, 2025, that Russia had successfully tested a nuclear-powered missile. If true, such a weapon could provide Russia with a unique military capability that also has broader political implications.

President Donald Trump on Thursday vowed to begin testing US nuclear weapons “on an equal basis” with Russia and China, heralding a potentially major shift in decades of US policy at a time of growing tensions between the world’s nuclear-armed superpowers.

The U.S. voluntarily halted nuclear explosive testing in 1992, though it has the ability to restart tests at a site in Nevada.

President Donald Trump appeared to suggest the U.S. will resume testing nuclear weapons for the first time in three decades, saying it would be on an “equal basis” with Russia and China. The Kremlin pointed out that a global test ban on nuclear test has remained in place,