Vladimir Putin threatens to deploy new Satan II nuclear missile that can reach UK in minutes

Vladimir Putin threatens to deploy new Satan II nuclear missile that can reach UK in minutes
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Tom Evans

By Tom Evans


Published: 22/06/2022

- 11:38

Updated: 14/02/2023

- 10:56

Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to deploy his feared Satan II nuclear missile – a weapon that can reach the UK within minutes

Putin said Russia will place the first batch of Sarmat ballistic missiles on combat duty by the end of the year.

He also said the Kremlin will continue to bolster its military following damage suffered during the invasion of Ukraine.


Dubbed the Satan II, Russia's Sarmat missile is said to be the longest-range intercontinental ballistic missile in the world.

It is capable of striking targets 11,200 miles away, putting targets in the US and Europe easily within reach.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting on the country's oil and gas industry with representatives of Russian energy companies and officials via a video link at a residence outside Moscow, Russia April 14, 2022. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.
Russian President Vladimir Putin
Reuters

The war rumbles on in Ukraine
The war rumbles on in Ukraine
GLEB GARANICH

Western experts say the Sarmat is capable of carrying 10 or more nuclear warheads and decoys, which would be comfortably enough to wipe out territories the size of Britain or France in one strike.

Putin has previously described the missile's successful test-firing as a "big, significant event".

He added that the Sarmat will "ensure Russia's security from external threats and make those who try to threaten our country with aggressive rhetoric think twice".

Colonel Sergei Karakayev, commander of Russia's strategic missile forces, told Kremlin state TV they can fly with different trajectories and evade defence systems.

He said: "There is no existing air defence for the Sarmat missile systems, and it will probably not exist in the coming decades."

It comes after a senior Russian figure said the UK will “physically cease to exist” if World War 3 were to break out.

In retaliation to comments made by British General Sir Patrick Sanders, where he called on soldiers to prepare to fight in "Europe once again", Russian Lieutenant-General Evgeny Buzhinsky said the UK “will vanish” as a result of a war.

Mr Buzhinsky said: “He doesn’t understand that as a result of the Third World War Britain will physically cease to exist.

“The island will vanish, so I’ve no idea where he or his descendants will live.”

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