Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged this Thursday to deploy the country’s latest model of the country’s intercontinental ballistic missile, the Sarmat, an ultra-powerful system that is said to have registered failures later this year, according to US sources.
“As always, we are paying special attention to strengthening the nuclear triad. This year will see the commissioning of the first launchers of the Sarmat missile system,” he said in a video posted on the eve of the first anniversary of the offensive against Ukraine and on Defender of the Fatherland Day, a public holiday in Russia.
On Tuesday, in a highly anticipated annual speech, Putin announced the launch of other nuclear systems, without specifying which ones, and the suspension of Russia’s participation in the New Smart treaty, the last bilateral nuclear disarmament agreement with the United States.
The Sarmat, whose launch was announced for 2022, was described by Putin last April as a missile that “can make all anti-aircraft systems fail” and will “turn on those who try to threaten Russia” twice.
The system is part of a series of missiles presented as “invincible” in 2018 by the Russian president, who said the Sarmat, dubbed Satan II by Westerners, has an almost unlimited range.
But according to CNN, which cited US sources asking for anonymity, Sarmat’s most recent test failed this week.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the news. “Any information that deserves to be made public will be passed through the Ministry of Defense channel,” he said, warning against Western “provocations”.
Source: DN
