On Tuesday, May 12, 2026, Russia test-fired its new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, a step Moscow says is part of a wider effort to modernize its nuclear forces. President Vladimir Putin hailed the launch just days after saying the fighting in Ukraine was drawing to a close.
Putin announced the nuclear-capable Sarmat will enter combat service by the end of the year and said it was built to replace the aging Soviet-era Voyevoda missile system.
“This is the most powerful missile in the world,” Putin declared, adding that the combined destructive power of the Sarmat’s individually targeted warheads is more than four times that of any Western counterpart, according to his remarks.
Since ordering troops into Ukraine in February 2022, Putin has frequently invoked Russia’s nuclear capabilities as a deterrent intended to dissuade Western support for Kyiv. His recent comments followed a military parade on Red Square marking the defeat of Nazi Germany, an event this year notably staged without heavy weapons for the first time in nearly two decades.
Over the past quarter-century, Putin has overseen a major overhaul of Russia’s nuclear triad: hundreds of new land-based intercontinental missiles, new nuclear submarines and upgraded nuclear-capable bombers. That modernization program prompted the United States to undertake its own costly updates to maintain parity.
The last remaining nuclear arms control pact between Moscow and Washington expired in February, removing formal limits on the two countries’ arsenals for the first time in more than half a century and raising fears of an unconstrained arms race.
Known in the West as “Satan II,” the Sarmat is intended to replace roughly 40 Voyevoda missiles. Development began in 2011; before this test the Sarmat had one known successful flight and reportedly suffered a major explosion during an abortive test in 2024.
Putin said the new missile matches the Voyevoda in destructive power but offers greater precision. He claimed the Sarmat can perform suborbital trajectories, giving it a range exceeding 35,000 kilometers (about 21,700 miles) and additional capability to defeat prospective missile defenses.
Moscow has introduced other advanced systems alongside the Sarmat. The Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle, which Putin has said can travel at speeds many times the speed of sound, has already entered service. Russia has also deployed the Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile in a conventionally armed version twice against targets in Ukraine; with a range up to about 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles), it can reach much of Europe.
Putin has further announced that Russia is in the final stages of developing the Poseidon nuclear-capable underwater drone and the Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile. Russian officials describe the Poseidon as a weapon designed to detonate near coastlines and produce widespread radioactive contamination, while the Burevestnik’s nuclear propulsion is said to give it a nearly unlimited range and the ability to loiter and strike from unexpected directions.
Moscow presents these programs as a response to U.S. efforts to build missile defenses after Washington’s 2001 withdrawal from a Cold War-era agreement that limited such systems. Russian planners argue that a robust missile shield could tempt a first strike designed to cripple Moscow’s arsenal, and say their upgrades are intended to preserve strategic balance.
“We were forced to consider ensuring our strategic security in the face of the new reality and the need to maintain a strategic balance of power and parity,” Putin said, framing the Sarmat and related programs as measures to protect Russia’s deterrent capability.