Russia unsuccessfully tested its nuclear-capable “invincible” missile this week during President Joe Biden’s visit to Ukraine, CNN reported Tuesday, citing two unnamed US officials.
Had it been successful, officials said, President Vladimir Putin would have touted the test in his State of the Union address.
Instead, Putin announced the suspension of Russia’s participation in the last US-Russian nuclear arms limitation treaty and ordered his nuclear forces to prepare for a new arms race.
Moscow informed Washington in advance of the test launch of its super-heavy intercontinental ballistic missile Sarmat via decon conflict lines, CNN quoted an official as saying.
US officials also used communications channels Sunday night when they briefed Russia hours in advance on Biden’s surprise visit to Kiev.
The US did not consider the Sarmat launch an “anomaly or an escalation,” CNN reported, citing one of the officials.
The last publicly known successful test of Sarmat’s ICBM took place months after Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022.
Putin, who has directed veiled nuclear threats to Kiev’s Western allies throughout the war, claimed at the time that the Sarmat would make the Kremlin’s enemies “think twice.”
Weighing more than 200 tons and capable of carrying multiple warheads, Sarmat is one of Russia’s next-generation missiles that Putin has described as “invincible.”
Sarmat is designed to evade missile defense systems with a short initial reinforcement phase and give enemy surveillance systems a narrow window to spot it.