Illustrative photo – In a photo of the Russian Ministry of Defense dated April 20, 2022, the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile during a test launch from the Plesetsk cosmodrome.
Washington – Russia apparently conducted an unsuccessful test of an intercontinental ballistic missile around the time of US President Joe Biden's visit to Ukraine on Monday. This was reported by the CNN television server last night with reference to two unnamed American sources. Moscow denied CNN's information.
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Russia warned the United States in advance of the upcoming launch through communication lines to prevent conflict, one of the sources said. The other said the test did not pose a threat to the United States and that Washington did not see the test as an anomaly or an escalation.
The test of the Sarmat missile, nicknamed Satan II in the West, apparently failed, both officials agree. At the same time, the missile is capable of carrying several nuclear warheads. Russian President Vladimir Putin said in December that Russia would continue to develop its military potential, including nuclear, and in that context said that the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile or hypersonic missiles would soon be put on combat alert.
Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov indirectly denied CNN's information about the missile test today. “You can't believe everything that appears in the media, especially if CNN is the source,” Rjabka was quoted as saying by Interfax.
The Sarmat missile has already been successfully tested before. US officials believe that if Monday's test had been successful, Putin would have mentioned it in Tuesday's State of the Union address. But Putin announced that Russia is suspending participation in the New START agreement, which limits the number of nuclear warheads and their carriers.
Putin has previously announced several successful tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles, including the Sarmat missile last April, not long after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February. The Sarmat missile was first unveiled by Russia in 2016. According to Russian media, it has a range of over 11,000 kilometers and can carry a nuclear warhead weighing 100 tons. It is to replace the R-36M Vojevoda missile.
