Russia test-launches nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile

Russia, which has begun a new series of attacks in Ukraine, test-launched on Wednesday (local time) an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that is capable of burning Texas or France to the ground. Russian President Vladimir Putin said right after the launch that it will provide “food for thought” for those who threaten Russia. The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation announced on Wednesday afternoon that it successfully test-launched ICBM RS-28 Sarmat for the first time from the Plesetsk launch facility in the northwestern region of the country.

The next-generation missile traveled 5,800 kilometers in 15 minutes and hit the target in the Kamchatka Peninsula, located in the northeast of the Korean Peninsula. The ICBM is the biggest existing missile and capable of carrying 16 megaton nuclear warheads, which makes its destructive power 2,000 times stronger than the nuclear bomb dropped by the U.S. in Hiroshima. Russia plans to deploy the ICBM with a maximum range of 18,000 kilometers in the fall of this year.

Russia launched the ICBM a day after U.S. President Joe Biden held an emergency meeting with the leaders of 11 Western countries and decided to provide weapons to Ukraine. “Russia provided advance notice of this launch,” said the White House. The White House also added that Russia’s missile test will not affect the U.S.’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, CNN reported quoting a member of the U.S. Department of Defense that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is being briefed two or three times a week on any potential Russian nuclear moves and that the military authorities are concerned about Russia’s use of nuclear weapons.


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