The Kremlin announced on Wednesday that it had deployed its latest generation of powerful laser weapon systems to counter the stream of Western weapons flowing into Ukraine.

The laser, which Moscow claims is one of its “secret weapons,” has the alleged capability to burn drones flying overhead. However, the United States and Ukrainian governments had shed doubt on the capabilities and even the existence of such weapon systems.

Back in 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled an astonishing batch of what seemed to be state-of-the-art military equipment, including a supersonic weapon, an intercontinental ballistic missile, sub-aquatic nuclear drones, and finally, a new laser system.

There were few details given on the new laser. What is known is that the system was called Peresvet, whose name was derived from a medieval Orthodox warrior monk, Alexander Peresvet.

In an interview with state-run Russian media group Channel One, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov claimed that the Peresve has already been widely deployed and had the capability to blind satellites at low Earth orbit.

“It is already being mass-supplied to the (missile) troops, and it can blind all satellite reconnaissance systems of a likely enemy in orbits of up to 1,500 km, disabling them during the flight due to the use of laser radiation,” Borisov said.

Borisov went on further, claiming that Moscow has successfully developed a more powerful laser system than the Peresvet, one that has the capability to burn drones while in the sky.

Deputy Minister of Defense Yury Borisov visiting Uraltransmash in 2016 (Russian Ministry of Defense, CC BY 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons). Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Deputy_Minister_of_Defense_Yury_Borisov_visiting_Uraltransmash_in_2016.jpg
Deputy Minister of Defense Yury Borisov visiting Uraltransmash in 2016 (Russian Ministry of DefenseCC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

“But that, let’s say, is of today, or even in some ways of yesterday: our physicists have now created, and practically mass-produced, laser systems which are more powerful by an order of magnitude that can inflict thermal destruction on various apparatus.”