U.S. Has New Intelligence About Russia’s Nuclear Capabilities

A congressman’s cryptic statement about the development set Washington abuzz about what the intelligence was and infuriated White House officials.

Share full article

The war in Ukraine has pitted the United States and its allies against President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.

The United States has informed Congress and its allies in Europe of new intelligence about Russian nuclear capabilities that could pose an international threat, according to officials briefed on the matter.

Officials said that the new intelligence was serious — but that the capability was still under development, and Russia had not deployed it. Consequently, it did not pose an urgent threat to the United States, Ukraine or America’s European allies, they said. The information is highly classified, and officials said it could not be declassified without cutting off its source.

A current and a former U.S. official said the new intelligence was related to Russia’s attempts to develop a space-based antisatellite nuclear weapon. ABC News reported earlier that the intelligence had to do with such a capability. Current and former officials said the nuclear weapon was not in orbit.

The threat came to light after Representative Michael R. Turner, Republican of Ohio and the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, issued a cryptic statement calling on the Biden administration to declassify the material. Mr. Turner’s statement, and his decision to share the information with others in Congress, set Washington abuzz about what the intelligence was.

But the statement infuriated White House officials, who feared the loss of important sources of information on Russia. While Mr. Turner has been an ally to the White House on Ukraine aid, his remarks on Wednesday became the latest flashpoint in strained relations between the Biden administration and congressional Republicans.

The intelligence was developed in recent days, and while it is important, officials said it was not a break-the-glass kind of warning of any imminent threat. But Mr. Turner urged its release.

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.