- Footage shows the mysterious ballistic launch in the Astrakhan region
Vladimir Putin issued a new warning to the West with the suspected test of an experimental missile with nuclear capability.
Footage shows the mysterious intercontinental ballistic launch from the Kapustin Yar test range in the Astrakhan region.
The Russian Defense Ministry declined to reveal the type of missile, but the missile was launched from a mobile ground-based missile system.
Russians living in Orenburg, Astrakhan and Volgograd described seeing a “strange object” moving through the sky, while some described it as a “space jellyfish.”
Stunned locals captured videos of the rocket, which were then widely shared on social media.
Vladimir Putin issued a new warning to the West with the suspected test of an experimental missile with nuclear capability
Footage shows the mysterious intercontinental ballistic launch from the Kapustin Yar test range in the Astrakhan region
The launch was carried out as part of a state testing program of future missile systems and those in use, at a time of high tensions between Russia and the West over Ukraine.
“The launch objectives have been fully achieved,” the ministry said, without providing further details.
It was believed that a launch on the same day a year ago would be a test of a new version of Putin’s Topol range – tentatively known as Topol-ME.
Residents of the Astrakhan, Dagestan and Volgograd regions noticed unusual white trails in the sky.
The Russian Defense Ministry declined to reveal the type of missile, but the missile was launched from a mobile ground-based missile system
Stunned locals captured videos of the rocket, which were then widely shared on social media
Russians living in Orenburg, Astrakhan and Volgograd described seeing a ‘strange object’ moving through the sky, while some described it as a ‘space jellyfish’
The launch came late on April 12, which Russia marks as Cosmonautics Day, commemorating the day in 1961 when Yuri Gagarin made the world’s first-ever space flight.
It is believed the mystery rocket in the new launch is not the Sarmat – or Satan-2 – which appears to be dogged by test delays.
This is destined to become the largest missile in Putin’s nuclear arsenal, described as an ‘unstoppable’ apocalypse, a 208-ton intercontinental silo-launched weapon traveling at 25,880 km per hour, the size of a 14-storey tower block .
Before it is properly put into service, it is expected to be tested above the South Pole.
Russian Telegram channel VChK-OGPU reported last month: ‘The Krasnoyarsk Machine Building Plant is experiencing a serious shortage of electronic components… for the production of strategic missiles.
‘The electronics of the new RS 28 [Sarmat] missile systems are largely of foreign origin and as a result of sanctions [they] faces a serious shortage.
“Now all efforts are being made to somehow correct the situation with the supply of sanctioned electronics.”