The Kremlin has denied US claims that Russia’s nuclear-powered cruise missile with \u201cunlimited\u201d range crashed after only 22 miles.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The weapon was one of a range of \u201cinvincible\u201d nuclear arms announced by Vladimir Putin during a speech in March.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSince its range is unlimited, it can manoeuvre as long as you want,\u201d Mr Putin said. \u201cFor now, no one in the world has anything like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
But sources with direct knowledge of a US intelligence report told CNBC that four tests of the missile between November and February all resulted in crashes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The longest flight lasted two minutes and covered 22 miles, while shortest ended only four seconds and five miles after launch, they said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
CNN previously quoted a US official as saying the cruise missile had crashed during tests.<\/p>\n
Mr Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied the reported US intelligence findings when asked on Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n