«Burevestnik» flies only in words: NSDC says why Putin is scaring the world

Moscow is once again trying to intimidate European societies with new «superweapons» like the Oreshnik and Burevestnik. And such information attacks are no coincidence. The goal is simple—to make Europeans question their support for Ukraine.

This was stated in a post by Andriy Kovalenko, Head of the NSDC’s Centre for Countering Disinformation.

Following Europe’s muted response to recent drone provocations over its airports and cities, Russia’s foreign intelligence chief Sergei Naryshkin—who has long pushed the concept of «hybrid scare tactics"—advised Russian leader Vladimir Putin to step up efforts to frighten Europeans, Kovalenko says.

However, intelligence data shows that all these loud statements are nothing more than Kremlin information operations. The second launch of the Oreshnik ended in failure, while the Burevestnik still exists only at the level of declarations.

In effect, Putin is drawing on Naryshkin’s ideas, which merely recycle old Khrushchev-era tactics from the Caribbean Crisis, when bombastic threats were meant to compensate for real technological backwardness.

There is no threat of a direct attack on NATO countries.

«Lavrov’s (Russian Foreign Minister — ed.) words about „security guarantees“ from Russia to NATO are part of the Kremlin’s information game. Right now, the best counter on the West to this game comes from Trump with his nuclear submarine,» Kovalenko wrote.