Russia has test-launched its new intercontinental ballistic missile – which Vladimir Putin has boasted can overcome any defence system.

The Sarmat missile was launched from Plesetsk in the country’s northwest and hit targets in the Kamchatka Peninsula in the far east.

And the Russian president has said the weapon would provide “food for thought” for those who try to threaten his country.

“The new complex has the highest tactical and technical characteristics and is capable of overcoming all modern means of anti-missile defence,” he said.

“It has no analogues in the world and won’t have for a long time to come.”

Commander issues ‘final message’ from steel plant – Ukraine live updates

The Sarmat is a new heavy intercontinental ballistic missile which Russia is expected to deploy with ten or more warheads on each missile, according to the US Congressional Research Service.

The Russian defence ministry was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying: “The launch’s objectives were fully attained. The planned performance specifications were confirmed throughout all phases of the flight.”

It added that a regiment of Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces stationed in the Krasnoyarsk territory is being prepared to be armed with the new missile.

The Pentagon insisted Russia had informed the US ahead of test and that it saw it as “routine and not a threat to
the United States”.

It comes as Russian forces increased their push towards diehard Ukrainian defenders holed up at a Mariupol steel plant.

There have been desperate new efforts to open an evacuation corridor for trapped civilians in the ruined city, a key battleground in Moscow’s drive to seize the country’s industrial east.

Ukraine’s military said Moscow continued to mount attacks across the east, probing for weak points in the Ukrainian defensive lines.

Russia said it launched hundreds of missile and air attacks on Ukrainian targets, including concentrations of troops and vehicles.

The Kremlin’s stated goal is to capture the Donbas, the mostly Russian-speaking eastern region that is home to coal mines, metal plants and heavy-equipment factories vital to Ukraine’s economy.

Detaching it would give Russian President Vladimir Putin a badly needed victory two months into the war.

Related posts:

Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine could be linked to rare blood clots, EU regulator says Israel and Hamas agree ‘mutual’ ceasefire to end 11 days of violence China’s Mars rover makes first tracks on red planet British soldiers rush to aid baby in blistering heat at Kabul airport China will allow couples to have three children as concern grows over aging population and low birth rate Haiti quake deaths surpass 2,000 as tensions grow over slow pace of aid Serbians block roads in Kosovo in protest over license plate restrictions Thousands flee amid fears La Palma volcano eruption could trigger toxic gases when lava hits the sea Dubai ruler ordered to pay record-breaking divorce settlement to ex-wife – including upkeep of UK mansions Brigitte Macron: France’s first lady ‘to sue over false Twitter rumours she was a man’ Germany to limit private gatherings among vaccinated to a maximum of 10 people in bid to tackle COVID spread ‘Pillar of Shame’ statue marking Tiananmen massacre torn down