Satellites show that Russian nuclear missile “Sarmat” exploded during testing

The Russian nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile RS-28 “Sarmat” exploded during testing right at the testing ground. A huge crater was formed at the site of the explosion, the testing ground was destroyed.

This was reported by OSINT researcher MeNMyRC with reference to satellite images from Planet Labs.

This is already the fourth unsuccessful attempt to test the “Sarmat” missile. Russia previously stated that the missile was already on combat duty.

The tests took place around September 20 or 21.

The reasons for the test failure are still unknown. Since the Sarmat missile has a liquid-fueled rocket engine, there could have been an incident with its detonation, or the missile could have fallen during launch. Four fire trucks can be seen in the satellite image.

Additional evidence of the launch failure could be a fire in the immediate vicinity of the missile silo, which indicates that the Russians were attempting to launch the missile.

The fire was recorded by a NASA satellite near the missile silo.

Over the entire period of use of the RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental missile, Russia has managed to carry out only 1 out of 5 successful launches – April 20, 2022.

We will add that the “Sarmat” is positioned by the Russian Ministry of Defense as a new step in ensuring nuclear deterrence forces. The missile entered service in 2023, but since then all attempts to carry out test launches of operationally combat-ready missiles have failed.

Prepared by: Nina Petrovich