Russian Sarmat missile test ends in flop – OSINT analyst

Russia's test of the RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile was a failure as the missile detonated in the silo leaving a huge crater and destroying the test site.

OSINT analyst MeNMyRC posted this on X and published photos, Ukrinform reports.

“My thanks to MT_Anderson for providing this Planet Labs imagery and allowing me to published it with comments. As is readily apparent, the RS-28 Sarmat test was a complete failure… Note the four fire trucks responding to the forest fire," the message reads.

It is noted that since the Sarmat uses liquid fuel, this accident could have occurred without an actual launch.

The first and last successful test of the Sarmat took place on April 20, 2022. This is at least the fourth failed test attempt of the Sarmat Heavy ICBM.

Russia conducted the Sarmat tests at Plesetsk cosmodrome in Arkhangelsk region.

As reported by Ukrinform, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced the first successful tests of the Sarmat in April 2022. Later, there was information that on February 20, 2023, when US President Joe Biden was visiting Kyiv, Russia conducted tests of the Sarmat missile, which ended in failure. On September 1 of the same year, head of Roscosmos Yurii Borisov announced that the strategic missile complex Sarmat was put on combat duty.