The Kremlin boasted on Tuesday it was winning the race to develop new cutting edge nuclear weapons despite a mysterious rocket accident last week in northern Russia that caused a temporary spike in radiation levels.
Rosatom, Russia's state nuclear agency, has said that the Aug. 8 accident occurred during a rocket test on a sea platform in the White Sea, killing at least five and injuring three more.
It has pledged to keep developing new weapons regardless, portraying the men who died in the test as heroes.
Russia, which has said the missile will have an "unlimited range" and be able to overcome any defenses, calls the missile the 9M730 Burevestnik (Storm Petrel). The NATO alliance has designated it the SSC-X-9 Skyfall.
In a sign of how serious the situation in the accident area remains, Russian authorities have advised residents of the nearby village of Nyonoksa to leave while clear-up work is being carried out, the Interfax news agency reported on Tuesday, citing local officials.
Russia's state weather service also said on Tuesday that radiation levels in the nearby city of Severodvinsk had spiked by up to 16 times last Thursday, while medics who treated victims of the accident have been sent to Moscow for a medical examination, the TASS news agency reported.
It said the medics had signed non-disclosure agreements about the nature of the accident.