According to CNN information, Moscow had planned to test an intercontinental ballistic missile on Monday. A test shot that would have failed, two sources tell the American media.
A sword in the water? According to two American officials quoted by CNN on condition of anonymitythe United States believes that Russia missed an intercontinental ballistic missile test launch on Monday, when President Joe Biden made his surprise visit to kyiv.
Washington had warned Moscow of the visit of the American president to the Ukrainian capital. And, according to CNN, Russia also informed the United States of the test launch of an ICBM, the communication channels between the two countries being still open.
This Russian exercise was therefore neither “an anomaly” nor a sign of “escalation” of the conflict.
But for the officials quoted by the American media, the test carried out by the Russian army was not conclusive. If it had been a success, Vladimir Putin would have mentioned it during his speech on Tuesday to Russian parliamentarians, they explain to CNN.
Except that, during his speech this Tuesday before the Duma, the Russian president did not say a word about the launch of an ICBM.
A precedent in April 2022
This is not the first time since the start of the war that Moscow has launched an experimental intercontinental ballistic missile.
At the very beginning of the conflict, in April 2022, the Russian army carried out an experimental launch of the RS-28 Sarmat, a super-powerful and very long-range intercontinental thermonuclear missile.
“It is a unique weapon that will enhance the military potential of our armed forces, which will keep Russia safe from external threats and which will make those who try to threaten our country with unbridled and aggressive rhetoric think twice” , boasted then Vladimir Putin.
Since the start of the Russian offensive, the nuclear issue has been worrying. In December 2022, the head of the Kremlin hinted that he would not use atomic weapons first, but only “in response” to a possible such enemy strike on his territory.
“We looked at weapons of mass destruction, the nuclear weapon, as a means of defence. (Using it) is built around what is called the ‘retaliatory strike’: if we are struck, we are struck in response” , Vladimir Putin then explained.
