Images show massive crater from Russia's apparently failed ICBM test

A Russian missile, widely promoted as the "world’s deadliest weapon," experienced its fourth consecutive failure on Saturday, when it exploded during refueling at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, located 800 kilometres north of Moscow.

The RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, dubbed "Satan-2" by Western analysts, malfunctioned before the test launch, resulting in a significant blast.

Satellite images captured by Maxar Technologies revealed extensive damage, including a 60-meter-wide crater, with roads and nearby infrastructure destroyed.

The Sarmat missile is designed to carry up to 16 nuclear warheads over a range of 18,000 km.

It is a central component of Russia's nuclear modernisation, which President Vladimir Putin has promoted as a key deterrence against Western powers.

The missile was first unveiled in 2018, replacing the older Soviet-era "Satan" missile, but repeated delays and test failures have stalled its deployment.

The explosion occurred just a week after Vyacheslav Volodin, a member of Russia’s Security Council, made inflammatory comments about the Sarmat's capability to strike the European Parliament in under four minutes.

The Kremlin has declined to comment on the failed test, and the Russian Ministry of Defence has also remained silent on the matter.

Open-source investigators from MeNMyRC confirmed the missile exploded in the silo, creating a massive crater. They suggested that since the Sarmat uses liquid fuel, the incident could have occurred independently of the launch sequence.

Fire engines responding to the scene were believed to be addressing a forest fire linked to the explosion.

Pavel Podvig, a researcher at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Studies, described the test failure as “catastrophic,” stating that it raises serious concerns about Russia's missile manufacturing capabilities.

Carl Bildt, a former Swedish prime minister and co-chairman of the European Council on Foreign Relations, echoed these concerns, highlighting the missile’s failure as evidence of Russia's degraded production standards.

This marks another setback for Russia’s missile programme, which has only had one successful Sarmat launch since 2018.

Despite the failures, Russia remains committed to the Sarmat programme, with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu affirming that the missile will soon be operational.

However, analysts, including Timothy Wright from the International Institute for Strategic Studies, warned that this fourth consecutive failure could further delay the missile’s introduction into service and raise doubts about the project’s viability.