The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that the Pacific Fleet’s Project 955A Borei-A nuclear-powered submarine Generalissimo Suvorov had test-fired a Bulava submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) from the Sea of Okhotsk.
According to the ministry statement carried by TASS on October 28, 2026, the missile was launched from a submerged position toward the Chizha test range in Russia’s Arkhangelsk Region. The ministry said the firing was conducted as part of the crew’s combat training plan.
The ministry also released footage of the launch, stating that monitoring data confirmed the missile’s warheads had reached the designated area of the range at the expected time. It did not specify when the launch took place.
Russia’s Borei-A submarines and their nuclear arsenal
(Credit: Aleksandr Merkushev / Shutterstock.com)
Generalissimo Suvorov, hull number K-553, previously fired a Bulava on November 3, 2022, during state trials, launching the missile from the White Sea toward the Kura range in Kamchatka, in the opposite direction to the latest firing. It joined the Russian Navy on December 29, 2022, during a ceremony attended remotely by President Vladimir Putin.
In October 2023, Generalissimo Suvorov completed its transfer from the Northern Fleet to the Pacific Fleet, arriving at its permanent base in Kamchatka.
Each Borei and Borei-A submarine carries 16 Bulava missiles. The nuclear-capable weapon, also designated RSM-56, has an estimated range of 8,300 kilometers (approximately 5,160 miles), according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Russia’s recurring strategic missile launches
The Sea of Okhotsk has featured in previous Russian strategic missile exercises. In October 2024, the Pacific Fleet’s Knyaz Oleg launched a Bulava from the same sea as part of a broader strategic deterrence exercise that also involved the Northern Fleet’s Novomoskovsk and a land-based Yars intercontinental ballistic missile.
Russia conducted another strategic nuclear forces exercise on October 22, 2025, involving a Yars launch from Plesetsk, a Sineva missile fired by the submarine Bryansk from the Barents Sea, and cruise missile launches by Tu-95MS strategic bombers.
Four days later, Moscow also announced a test of its Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile, which Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov said had taken place on October 21, 2025.