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☆ Images show Russia’s new Sarmat missile suffered major test failure, researchers say
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-24 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Reuters —Russia appears to have suffered a “catastrophic failure” in a test of its Sarmat missile, a key weapon in the modernization of its nuclear arsenal, according to arms experts who have analyzed satellite images of the launch site. It’s a big hole in the ground,” said Pavel Podvig, an analyst based in Geneva, who runs the Russian Nuclear Forces project. A September 21 satellite image shows a closer view of the launch site after the apparent launch failure. Maxar TechnologiesIISS analyst Wright said a test failure did not necessarily mean that the Sarmat program was in jeopardy. “However, this is the fourth successive test failure of Sarmat which at the very least will push back its already delayed introduction into service even further and at most might raise questions about the program’s viability,” he said.

Persons: Maxar, ”, Pavel Podvig, Timothy Wright, James Acton, Vladimir Putin, Satan, Putin, Sergei Shoigu, Wright, Moscow –, Nikolai Sokov Organizations: Reuters, Plesetsk, Russian Nuclear Forces, International Institute for Strategic Studies, Carnegie Endowment, International Peace, Technologies, SS, Design, Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology Locations: Russia, United States, Europe, Geneva, London, Ukraine, Moscow, Plesetsk, Arkhangelsk, Russian, Soviet

☆ Ukraine's intelligence chief claimed Wagner's mutineers almost reached a Russian base holding Cold War-era nuclear bombs small enough to be carried in backpacks
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Ukraine's spy chief claimed the Wagner Group almost reached a Russian nuclear base in late June. Kyrylo Budanov told Reuters that the base, Voronezh-45, housed small nukes that fit in a backpack. While Reuters could only track the fighters until they were around 70 miles from the base, Budanov said they headed further in and wanted to seize the munitions inside. Russia does not say if Voronezh-45 houses nuclear weapons, but the base is believed by outside observers like the Russian Nuclear Forces Project to be one of the Kremlin's 12 main storage sites. It's also unlikely that troops from a private military company like Wagner would have possessed the knowledge to arm and deploy nuclear weapons on their own.

Persons: Ukraine's, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Kyrylo Budanov, Wagner, Budanov, Alexander Lukashenko, Vladimir Putin, It's Organizations: Wagner Group, Reuters, Service, Kremlin, Pentagon, Washington Post, Russian Nuclear Forces Project, Soviet Union, Russia's Ministry of Defense Locations: Russian, Moscow, Voronezh, Wall, Silicon, Ukrainian, Rostov, Russia, Soviet, Washington

☆ Russia mercenary threat revives concern over nuclear arsenal security
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( Jonathan Landay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

To be sure, U.S. officials say they do not see an immediate threat to the security of Russia's strategic and tactical weapons. "We have not seen any changes in the disposition of Russian nuclear forces," said a National Security Council spokesperson in response to questions from Reuters. U.S. intelligence agencies said in their 2023 Annual Threat assessment that "Russia's nuclear material security ... remains a concern despite improvements to material protection, control, and accounting at Russia's nuclear sites since the 1990s." Russia’s nuclear arsenal is the world’s largest, estimated in 2022 at 5,977 warheads by the Federation of American scientists, compared to an estimated 5,428 held by the U.S. “This has always been a super-high (U.S.) intelligence collection priority and the command and control of nuclear weapons in Russia,” said Hoffman.

Persons: Wagner, Alexander Ermochenko WASHINGTON, group's, Wagner's, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin's, Marc Polymeropoulos, you’re, Ramzan, Kadyrov, Daniel Hoffman, Dmitry Peskov, Hoffman, “, Putin, ”, Jonathan Landay, Don Durfee, Daniel Wallis Organizations: Southern Military District, REUTERS, CIA, National Security, Reuters, Federation of, U.S, Thomson Locations: Rostov, Don, Russia, Moscow, Washington, Europe, Eurasia, U.S, Washington . U.S, Ukraine, United States

☆ NATO to keep close eye on Russia's upcoming nuclear exercise - Stoltenberg
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, Oct 13 (Reuters) - NATO will monitor an expected upcoming Russian nuclear exercise very closely, the alliance's chief said on Thursday, in particular in light of Moscow's latest nuclear threats related to its conflict in Ukraine. "We have monitored Russian nuclear forces for decades and of course we will continue to monitor them very closely and we will stay vigilant - also when they now start a new exercise," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters. "What I can say is that this exercise, the Russian exercise, is an annual exercise. It's an exercise where they test and exercise their nuclear forces," he added, apparently referring to Russia's annual Grom exercise that normally takes place in late October and in which Russia tests its nuclear-capable bombers, submarines and missiles. And of course we will remain vigilant, not least in light of the veiled nuclear threats and the dangerous rhetoric we have seen from the Russian side," Stoltenberg said.

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