The USA believes Russia carried out a test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), nicknamed Satan II, that appears to have failed – around the same time Joe Biden visited Ukraine on Monday. Russia had notified the US in advance of the launch through deconfliction lines, one official told CNN. Another insisted the test posed no risk to the US, who did not view it as an escalation. But the test of the SAMRAT missile appears to have failed, officials added. It had been successfully tested before and insiders believe Vladimir Putin would have highlighted any such success during his State of the Nation speech on Tuesday.
The Russian President failed to mention the latest launch, in which he launched several attacks and made a number of veiled threats against Ukraine and the West.
Putin had previously announced successful ICBM tests, including just weeks after Russia invades Ukraine nearly a year ago.
The Satan II missile is said to have a range in excess of 6,835 miles, and be able to carry a warhead weighing 100 tons.
However during his speech on Tuesday, Putin did formally declare Russia would be be suspending its participation in the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty with the US, ending the last remaining pact that regulates the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals.
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