Russian government officials declared the country carried out a successful test launch of an “advanced” intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Tuesday.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced the successful public test of the ICBM in a statement. The test launch comes weeks after Russia decided to stop participating in the New START treaty, a nuclear arms control agreement with the United States.
This treaty agreement was the last nuclear arms control agreement Putin held with the US.
One Russian media outlet, TASS, called Putin’s missile launch a means to “test advanced combat equipment of intercontinental ballistic missiles.”
“This move appears to be a deliberate show of strength against the West,” The Sun reported.
Following the war exercise, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg condemned Putin. “As Putin made clear today, he’s preparing for more war. I regret the decision by Russia to suspend its participation in [the] New START program.”
“More nuclear weapons and less arms control makes the world more dangerous,” Stoltenberg added.
Russia tested a RS-28 Sarmat super-heavy ICBM pic.twitter.com/Gd8MR9Ui39
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) April 20, 2022
Some believe Russia’s ICBM are so advanced they can completely destroy small cities. “Russian propagandists claim that no air defense system is capable of shooting the missiles down, which are each capable of completely destroying a small city,” Yahoo News reported.
