Putin puts ‘Satan 2’ missile ‘that could sink UK’ on combat duty for first time
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Russia’s space agency chief Yury Borisov made the announcement while he was speaking to students at an educational event.
‘The Sarmat strategic complex has been put on combat duty,’ he said, using the official name for the 15,880mph intercontinental missile system.
He gave no other details about the weapon, which has been dubbed ‘unstoppable’ in repeated threats to the West.
Pro-Putin propagandist Dmitry Kiselyov previously told former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson the missile could ‘drown the [country] once and for all’.
‘A single launch, Boris, and there is no England anymore,’ he said last year.
The weapon, which is the size of a 14-storey tower block, was supposed to go on duty at the end of 2022 but it was mysteriously delayed.
There have been several reports about supposed tests for the missile but ‘Satan-2’ has only officially undergone one full-scale test – on April 20 last year.
At the time, Putin said: ‘This truly unique weapon will strengthen the combat potential of our armed forces, reliably ensure Russia’s security in the face of external threats, and will provide food for thought to those who in the heat of frenzied aggressive rhetoric try to threaten our country.’
The missile is capable of delivering multiple nuclear warheads and is believed to have a range of almost 7,000 miles.
Nine months ago Putin said: ‘In the near future, Sarmat ICBMs will be put on combat duty for the first time.
’We know there will be a certain delay in time but this does not change our plans – everything will be done.’
Last May, Dmitry Rogozin, the former head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, said that almost 50 Satan-2 missiles were in mass production and would soon be on combat duty.
After he was fired for unknown reasons, his successor repeated the claim about the weapons being mass-produced but held back on renewing any deadlines.
When Mr Rogozin went to the Krasmash defence factory in Krasnoyarsk, in eastern Siberia to inspect the process of producing Satan-2 for flight tests, he called the place a ‘Doomsday Plant’.
However, some will doubt the credibility of today’s announcement about ‘Satan-2’ – because it has not been tested as much as these kinds of weapons usually are.
For example, another missile – the RT-2PM Topol – was tested a dozen times before deployment.
Defence expert Leonid Nersisyan last year wrote for global defence news website Shephard Media: ‘Actual acceptance of the ICBM into service with the Strategic Missile Forces …is hardly achievable by 2024.
‘It is far likelier that Sarmat will undergo the same testing, prototyping and experimentation programme as its predecessors.’
It comes as Ukraine has sent another barrage of drone attacks to Russia amid reports a nuclear power plant may have been hit.
The number of drone strikes hitting Russian territory during the Russia-Ukraine war has now topped 500 – and it appears multiple regions were targeted.
A video showed a large aerial explosion in the moonlight over Pskov in northern Russia, the scene of a devastating attack earlier this week when two Il-76 transport planes were destroyed, and another pair badly damaged.
New satellite images show the devastation on the military airbase, a key hub of Russian paratroopers.
Moscow suffered new chaos with more airport closures amid claims a drone was shot down over the suburb Lyubertsy.
Smoke was seen rising in the vicinity and major airports halted flights for more than two hours.
After the close call, Ukrainian forces said the drone was able to safely return to base without a scratch.
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