Overview
- Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces reported a silo launch at 11:15 a.m. Moscow time Tuesday that sent an RS-28 Sarmat toward the Kura test range and met its objectives.
- President Vladimir Putin said the first Sarmat regiment at Uzhur in Siberia will go on combat duty by the end of 2026 following what he called a successful flight.
- Putin claimed the heavy missile can fly on ballistic or suborbital paths with a range over 35,000 km and carry warheads with a combined yield more than four times Western equivalents.
- The program has a mixed record that includes a silo explosion reported in 2024 and a failed 2025 launch, and many performance claims lack independent verification.
- The test follows the expiry of the last US-Russia strategic arms limits in February, and Moscow also says Poseidon and Burevestnik systems are in final stages, raising the risk of a broader, less constrained arms race.