LONDON: Russia said on Wednesday it had conducted a first test launch of its Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, a new addition to its nuclear arsenal which President Vladimir Putin said would give Moscow’s enemies something to think about.
Putin was shown on television being told by the militarythat the missile had been launched from Plesetsk in thecountry’s northwest and hit targets in the Kamchatka peninsula in the far east.
The Sarmat has been under development for years and so itstest-launch is not a surprise for the West, but it comes at amoment of extreme geopolitical tension due to Russia’seight-week-old war in Ukraine.
“The new complex has the highest tactical and technicalcharacteristics and is capable of overcoming all modern means of anti-missile defence. It has no analogues in the world and won’t have for a long time to come,” Putin said.
Ukraine seeks IAEA help over nuclear plants occupied by Russia
“This truly unique weapon will strengthen the combatpotential of our armed forces, reliably ensure Russia’s securityfrom external threats and provide food for thought for thosewho, in the heat of frenzied aggressive rhetoric, try tothreaten our country.”
The Sarmat is a new heavy Intercontinental Ballistic Missilewhich Russia is expected to deploy with 10 or more warheads on each missile, according to the U.S. Congressional ResearchService.
Launching the invasion on Feb. 24, Putin made a pointedreference to Russia’s nuclear forces and warned the West thatany attempt to get in its way “will lead you to suchconsequences that you have never encountered in your history.”
Days later, he ordered Russia’s nuclear forces to be put onhigh alert, raising concerns in the West.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said onMarch 14: “The prospect of nuclear conflict, once unthinkable,is now back within the realm of possibility.”
In a statement, Russia’s defence ministry said the Sarmatwas fired from a silo launcher at 1512 Moscow time (1212 GMT) and the training warheads reached a test range on Kamchatka in the Pacific, a distance of nearly 6,000 km (3,700 miles).
“Sarmat is the most powerful missile with the longest rangeof destruction of targets in the world, which will significantlyincrease the combat power of our country’s strategic nuclearforces,” it said.