New satellite imagery indicates Russia may have conducted a failed intercontinental ballistic missile test in recent days involving its Sarmat ICBM, also known as the Satan II.
A satellite image analyzed by CBS News shows a large crater and remnants of a possible explosion on a launchpad at Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia on Sept. 21. The crater is approximately 200 feet wide, and the site contains dark rubble and other debris indicating a large fire or explosion.
The satellite images show several trucks at the site. Fires continued to burn in the trees near the launchpad site on Saturday, according to George Barros, the Institute for the Study of War’s Russia team lead.
Pavel Podvig, director of the Russian Nuclear Forces Project, an arms control and nuclear weapons analysis blog, said the launch likely happened on Sept. 19. A Notice to Air Missions or NOTAM notification for pilots in the area was later canceled the same day. Podvig said an explosion may have occurred during the defueling of the missile as the images indicate the missile may have “exploded in the silo.”
The Plesetsk Cosmodrome is located roughly 500 miles north of Moscow and 250 miles east of Russia’s border with Finland.
“We are aware of the press reporting surrounding Russia’s ICBM launch earlier this month. We refer you to the Russian Ministry of Defence for further information on this incident,” a U.S. Defense Department spokesperson said in a statement to CBS News.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declined to comment in a press briefing on Monday, Sept. 23, about the alleged explosion, saying: “We do not have any information on this matter.”
This is Russia’s latest Sarmat ICBM test since the missile entered service in 2021. It was last launched in February 2023, two days prior to President Biden’s visit to Kyiv, Ukraine. U.S. officials told CBS News the test failed.
The Sarmat is classified as a “heavy” ICBM designed to reach a target about 11,000 miles away and is capable of carrying up to 10 tons in payload, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Missile Defense Project.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the country suspended its participation in the nuclear arms pact called the New START Treaty in February 2023, adding that Russia would resume nuclear weapons tests if the U.S. did.
The U.S. conducted two Minuteman III ICBM test launches in 2023, one in June and one in September.
Tom Karako, director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Missile Defense Project, told CBS News the latest Sarmat test is “nuclear saber rattling.”
“The United States is, to some extent, playing catch up in terms of modernizing our nuclear force, which in relative terms, is significantly older,” Karako said. “Russia’s been putting a lot of effort after this, so Sarmat is one piece of that, but it’s the many-headed beast.”
Sergei Karakayev, Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces commander, said in December 2023 the country intended to conduct seven ICBM tests in 2024.
According to Russian independent news outlet Sirena, Russia has conducted six failed tests of nuclear weaponry since June, including its Poseidon torpedo and Bulava submarine-launched missile.
