Putin praises Russia’s test of ‘world’s most powerful missile’ | News about nuclear weapons

The Russian leader says the nuclear-armed Sarmat missile will enter military service by the end of the year.

Russia has tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile, with President Vladimir Putin describing the Sarmat nuclear weapon as the “most powerful” weapon in the world.

State television channels Sergei Karakayev, the head of Russia’s armed forces, briefing Putin on what Moscow described as a successful launch on Tuesday.

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Putin said that Sarmat missile he will join the army at the end of the year.

“This is the most powerful missile in the world,” he said in a televised address, adding that its weapons were four times more powerful than any Western missile.

Putin said the Sarmat is stealthy, giving it a range of more than 35,000km (21,750 miles), and said it “can penetrate all existing and future anti-missile systems”.

The test comes after years of obstacles.

Development of the Sarmat began in 2011, and before Tuesday, the missile had only one successful test. he says he suffered A major explosion in abortion attempts in 2024.

Dubbed the “Second Satan” in the West, the Sarmat was supposed to replace about 40 Soviet-built Voyevoda missiles. Putin said on Tuesday that Sarmat is as powerful as Voyevoda but more accurate.

The test came amid concerns over the collapse of the nuclear weapons control system that has overseen the two nuclear arsenals of the United States and Russia for years.

New START, the last remaining treaty between Russia and the US capping warheads and delivery systems, expired in February, leaving the world’s two largest nuclear powers without legal restrictions for the first time in more than half a century.

Although Moscow and Washington agreed to resume high-level military talks after the end of the deal, there are no signs of progress on a replacement deal.

The two groups have repeatedly accused the other of not complying with New START’s provisions.

US President Donald Trump has pushed for a new deal to include China, whose military arsenal is growing but still dwarfs that of Russia or the US.

Beijing has resisted public pressure.

Trump has remained silent on the question of extending New START before it expires.

Putin, who came to power in 2000, has overseen efforts to upgrade Russia’s Soviet-built nuclear arsenal: installing hundreds of new surface-to-surface missiles, deploying new nuclear weapons and refurbishing nuclear bombs.

They first unveiled the Sarmat in 2018 along with new equipment that includes the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle, which can fly 27 times faster than the speed of sound.

The first vehicles have already entered service.

Russia has also deployed the new Oreshnik medium-range nuclear weapon, and used its weapons twice to strike Ukraine, where Moscow has launched an attack in 2022. The Oreshnik has a range of 5,000km (3,100 miles) making it able to reach any target in Europe.

Putin also announced that Russia was “in the final stages” of developing the Poseidon nuclear submarine and the Burevestnik missile, guided by subatomic warheads.

Putin has described the new weapons as part of Russia’s response to the US missile defense system that Washington built after withdrawing in 2001 from a Cold War-era US-Soviet Union treaty that limited missile defense.

Russian military planners fear that the US missile shield could tempt Washington to launch a first strike that would knock out most of Moscow’s nuclear weapons, with the US able to intercept the few Russian missiles that survive the retaliation.

“We were forced to think about how to ensure the success of our defense in the face of new realities and the need to have a deterrent force and cooperation,” Putin said.