(OPINION) Vladimir Putin is poised to spook the West with an imminent major new test launch of his giant 208-tonne hypersonic Satan-2 apocalypse missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads. The firing may even be timed to coincide with the anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine on February 24.
Officials in remote districts of Kamchatka have been warned to be ready for a test launch of a nuclear-capable strategic missile between February 15 and 25.
It will be targeted at Kura test range in this far-flung region, and restrictions on movements for local residents will be put in place in three districts.
Military insiders say the expected launch may be a test launch of “unstoppable” Satan-2 – known to Russians as Sarmat – after unexplained delays in the development and deployment of Putin’s “big beast” weapon.
It is reported to have no equivalent in the West for the carnage it could unleash. Or he could stage test launches of the Bulava or Yars, a development of the Topol missile, suggested MilitaryRussia.ru Telegram channel. The tests come as Putin and Russian propagandists step up warnings that he could use nuclear weapons amid deep east-west tensions over Ukraine.
Areas of Tigilsky, Karaginsky and Ust-Kamchatsky districts on the Kamchatka peninsula have been declared “danger zones” where missile fragments might fall while the military carries out “experimental and testing work”.
The “danger zones” cover territory larger than England, and the entire air space will be closed. The last time a Bulava missile was launched at Kamchatka from the strategic submarine Generallisimus Suvorov in the White Sea, in November last year. (SOURCE)
