Failed Sarmat Missile Test Causes Damage at Russian Cosmodrome, Satellite Images Reveal

Satellite images from Sept. 21 show significant damage at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Arkhangelsk region, suggesting a failed test of Russia’s RS-28 Sarmat nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), according to analysis by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

The images reveal a large crater at the Yubileynaya launch silo, previously used for Sarmat missile tests, with fire trucks seen responding to small fires around the damaged site.

Open-source analysts, cited by the ISW, confirm the damage was likely caused by an unsuccessful Sarmat launch, though opinions differ on whether the failure occurred during launch or fueling. The Yubileynaya silo had been modified specifically for Sarmat tests.

Russia’s RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, known in the West as “Satan II,” is a fifth-generation intercontinental ballistic missile, capable of carrying nuclear warheads at a range of up to 16,000 kilometers (10,000 miles) and designed to bypass modern air defense systems.

The Sarmat ICBM is intended to replace the aging Soviet-era Voevoda missile. Russia accelerated its development after its ability to source Voevoda components from Ukraine ended following the start of the war in 2014.

Despite this, the Sarmat program has faced repeated delays, with this being the fourth reported failure. Russia has only conducted one successful test of the missile, in April 2022, and claimed to have put it on combat duty in September 2023.

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Sarmat was reportedly tested on Feb. 21, 2023, during US President Joe Biden’s visit to Kyiv, although that test is believed to have failed.

According to Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, this failure highlights the country’s struggles with missile development under international sanctions and the pressures on its defence industry amid the war in Ukraine.

Last week, on Thursday, Sept. 19, Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the lower house of Russia’s parliament and a member of Putin’s Security Council, warned Western governments that Russia’s Sarmat could reach Strasbourg, one of the locations where the European Parliament sits, in just 3 minutes and 20 seconds.

Volodin was responding to a vote in the European Parliament urging EU countries to give Kyiv such approval. EU lawmakers approved the resolution with 425 votes in favor, 131 against, and 63 abstentions during a plenary session in Strasbourg on Thursday.