Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the successful test of a new intercontinental ballistic missile, the Sarmat, describing it as the 'world's most powerful' nuclear-capable weapon.

State television broadcast footage of Strategic Missile Forces commander Sergei Karakayev reporting to Putin on what Moscow described as a successful launch. Putin stated that the Sarmat missile would enter combat service by the end of the year.

Putin claimed the Sarmat's warhead yield is more than four times greater than any Western equivalent, and that the missile is capable of suborbital flight with a range exceeding 35,000 km (21,750 miles). He asserted it could 'penetrate all existing and future anti-missile defence systems.'

The test comes after years of setbacks: development began in 2011, and prior to Tuesday, the missile had only one known successful test and reportedly suffered a massive explosion during an abortive test in 2024.

Designated 'Satan II' in the West, the Sarmat is intended to replace about 40 Soviet-built Voyevoda missiles. Putin said the Sarmat is as powerful as the Voyevoda but with higher precision.

The test occurred against the backdrop of the collapse of arms control between the US and Russia. The New START treaty, the last remaining pact capping strategic warheads, expired in February, leaving the world's two largest nuclear powers without formal constraints for the first time in over 50 years.

Putin, who came to power in 2000, has overseen a major upgrade of Russia's nuclear triad: deploying hundreds of new land-based ICBMs, commissioning new nuclear submarines, and modernizing nuclear-capable bombers.

He first unveiled the Sarmat in 2018 alongside the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle. Russia has also commissioned the new Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile and used its conventional version twice to strike Ukraine.

Source: www.aljazeera.com