Russia conducted an intercontinental ballistic "Satan II" missile test during Biden's visit to Ukraine, but it failed - US

 

According to a fresh claim by CNN citing two US sources familiar with the situation, Russia conducted an intercontinental ballistic missile test that looks to have failed about the time US President Joe Biden was in Ukraine on Monday, February 20.

According to a US official, Russia informed the US of the launch through deconfliction lines. According to a different official, neither the test nor the US's perception of it as an escalation posed any risk to the US.

Security officials told CNN that a test of a heavy SARMAT missile that can carry several nuclear warheads and is known as the Satan II in the West appeared to have failed.

US officials believe that if the test had been effective, Russian President Vladimir Putin would have highlighted it in his Tuesday State of the Nation speech. In the hour and 45 minute speech, Putin made no mention of the launch. But, Putin did officially confirm that Russia will suspend its obligations to the New START nuclear armaments reduction pact with the United States.

As US officials also informed the Russians on Sunday night, hours before Biden's visit to Kyiv, that the president would be traveling to the Ukrainian capital, the timing of the test suggests that the US and Russia were communicating through several different channels earlier this week for deconfliction purposes, according to national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

The missile would "give thought to those who are seeking to attack Russia," Putin forewarned in a previous statement.

According to the paper, Western military analysts at the time characterized Russia's 2022 test as "nuclear saber-rattling" and saw it as an effort to divert attention from the country's military missteps at the time, such as the sinking of its Black Sea flagship the Moskva.