Russia Tests Nuclear-Capable Missile Putin Calls World’s Best


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LONDON — In a show of force two months after its assault on Ukraine, Russia launched a new nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile that President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday would make Moscow’s enemies stop and think.

Putin was shown on television being told by the military that the long-awaited Sarmat missile had first been launched from Plesetsk in northwestern Russia and had hit targets on the Kamchatka Peninsula, almost 6,000 km (3,700 miles). ) away.

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The Sarmat test, in development for years, did not surprise the West, but it came at a time of extreme geopolitical tension. Russia has yet to capture any major cities since sending tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on February 24.

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry was not immediately available for comment.

“The new complex has the highest tactical and technical characteristics and is capable of overcoming all modern means of missile defense. It has no analogues in the world and will not have them for a long time,” Putin said.

“This truly unique weapon will strengthen the combat potential of our armed forces, reliably ensure Russia’s security from external threats, and give food for thought to those who, amid frantically aggressive rhetoric, seek to threaten our country.” .

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Announcing the invasion eight weeks ago, Putin made a direct reference to Russia’s nuclear forces and warned the West that any attempt to stand in its way “will lead to consequences that it has never encountered in its history.”

Days later, he ordered Russia’s nuclear forces to be placed on high alert. “The prospect of a nuclear conflict, previously unthinkable, is now back within the realm of possibility,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said last month.

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that the Sarmat was fired from a silo launcher at 3:12 p.m. Moscow time (12:12 GMT).

Russia’s nuclear forces will start receiving the new missile “in the fall of this year” once tests are completed, Tass quoted Dmitry Rogozin, head of the Roscosmos space agency, as saying on Wednesday.

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SYMBOLIC TIME

Jack Watling of the RUSI think tank in London said there was an element of posturing and symbolism involved, less than three weeks before the annual Victory Day parade where Russia shows off its latest weapons.

“The timing of the test reflects that the Russians want to have something to show for it as a technological achievement in the run-up to Victory Day, at a time when much of their technology has not delivered the results they would have liked.” Watling said. .

Douglas Barrie, senior fellow for military aerospace at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said the launch was an important milestone after years of delays caused by funding problems and design challenges.

He said further testing would be needed before Russia could deploy it in place of old SS-18 and SS-19 missiles that were “well past their expiration date”.

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Barrie said the Sarmat’s ability to carry 10 or more warheads and decoys, and Russia’s option to fire it over either of the Earth’s poles, posed a challenge for ground-based and satellite radar and tracking systems.

Igor Korotchenko, editor-in-chief of Russia’s National Defense magazine, told the RIA news agency that it was a signal to the West that Moscow was capable of imposing “crushing retribution that will end the history of any country that has security invaded. of Russia and the people of it”.

Ukraine has mounted a stiff resistance and the West has imposed sweeping sanctions to try to force Russia to withdraw its forces. Moscow says they are on a special operation to degrade the military capabilities of their southern neighbor and root out people it calls dangerous nationalists. (Reporting by Mark Trevelyan; Additional reporting by Peter Hobson and David Ljunggren; Editing by Howard Goller and Grant McCool)

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Reference-nationalpost.com

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