Vladimir Putin has been left humiliated after his prized Satan-2 missile exploded at a testing facility.
Russia‘s only suitable missile testing site was destroyed as a result, handing a major setback to Moscow’s development of the hypersonic warhead.
The explosion occurred at Plesetsk, severely damaging the launch site with reports suggesting there were likely casualties. Experts are also warning that this could add years to the hypersonic missile development program.
NASA Firms reported that the fire from the explosion lasted for six to 12 hours. Satellite images also showed a 200ft wide crater.
Russian state media has been prohibited from covering the explosion, according to reports.
The Satan-2 missile has previously been described as “unstoppable” and was designed to strike targets in the West.
Last year, Russian state media outlet TASS reported that a test was being planned for a launch over the South Pole.
OSINT analyst MeNMyRC reports that the test may have been aborted before the explosion.
MeNMyRC: “This silo explosion could very well indicate that the test had already failed/been postponed and that the accident occurred during missile defuelling, or associated, operations.”
OSINT analyst Thord Are Iversen said: “This was the only silo at Plesetsk for testing Sarmat and it now has to be built from scratch again.
“They will have the silos at Uzhur available soon but whether they can or will use them for tests remains to be seen.”
The Kremlin has declined to comment on the missile explosion.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “We have no information on this matter.”
Timothy Wright, research associate at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London, told Reuters: “One possible cause is that the first stage (booster) either failed to ignite properly or suffered from a catastrophic mechanical failure, causing the missile to fall back into or land closely adjacent to the silo and explode.”