In a show of strength as the second
onslaught on Ukraine begins, Russia launched a new nuclear-capable
intercontinental ballistic missile which President Vladimir Putin said on
Wednesday would make Moscow’s enemies stop and think, reported Reuters. 

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The long-awaited Sarmat missile had been
test-launched for the first time from Plesetsk in northwest Russia and hit
targets in the Kamchatka peninsula, nearly 6,000 km (3,700 miles) away.

The test of the Sarmat, under development
for years, did not surprise the West, however. But it came at a moment of
extreme geopolitical tension. Russia has yet to capture any major cities since
it sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on February 24.

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Ukraine’s defence ministry did not
immediately comment on the missile test.

“The new complex has the highest
tactical and technical characteristics and is capable of overcoming all modern
means of anti-missile defence. It has no analogues in the world and won’t have
for a long time to come,” Putin said.

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“This truly unique weapon will
strengthen the combat potential of our armed forces, reliably ensure Russia’s
security from external threats and provide food for thought for those who, in
the heat of frenzied aggressive rhetoric, try to threaten our country.”

Putin also warned the West that any
attempt to get in its way “will lead you to such consequences that you
have never encountered in your history.”

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Days later, he ordered Russia’s nuclear
forces to be put on high alert. “The prospect of nuclear conflict, once
unthinkable, is now back within the realm of possibility,” United Nations
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said last month.

Russia’s nuclear forces will start
taking delivery of the new missile “in the autumn of this year” once
testing is complete, Tass quoted Dmitry Rogozin, head of the Roscosmos space
agency, as saying on Wednesday.

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Talking about the significance of the
missile test, Igor Korotchenko, editor in chief of Russia’s National Defence
magazine, told RIA news agency it was a signal to the West that Moscow was
capable of meting out “crushing retribution that will put an end to the
history of any country that has encroached on the security of Russia and its
people”.