Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
National
Will Stewart & Ryan Fahey & Michelle Cullen

Vladimir Putin's crony warns Russia could turn West into huge crater with 50 Satan-2 nukes

A leading ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned the West that Russia could destroy it by highlighting the crater made by a test launch of Russia's new hypersonic Satan-2 nuclear missile.

The missile launch left a 26ft deep hole on the test site without an atomic warhead in Kamchatka.

Dmitry Rogozin - head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos - said: "With a nuclear charge, such a crater at an enemy site will be…well, very large and very deep - and radioactive.

READ MORE: Ukrainian refugee who ran off with dad claims dumped 'two-faced' ex is to blame

"And not just one, but exactly as many as the most powerful nuclear missile in the world will deliver to the territory of a fierce enemy.

Vladimir Putin crony Dmitry Rogozin drew attention to the hypersonic Satan-2's destructive power to scare the West (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

"And we will soon have almost 50 such Sarmats [the missile is known in the West as Satan-2] on combat duty.

"It remains only to advise the aggressors to talk more politely with Russia."

Rogozin, a former deputy prime minister and Putin super-loyalist, has made several recent threats of nuclear strikes against the West involving Satan-2.

He announced almost 50 would be deployed by autumn.

For his latest threat, he used footage from Russian TV channel Zvezda, run by the Defence Ministry.

The Russians have claimed that the Satan-2 missile is the height of a 14-storey tower block and weighs 208 tons.

The intercontinental ballistic missile has a range of 11,200 miles and can strike at targets at 15,880mph after flying in outer space or via the north or south poles.

Zvezda TV journalist Alexander Kursky said at the Kura military test site on the Kamchatka peninsula: "This crater left by a Sarmat test launch just strikes my imagination.

"No warhead, but the depth is 8 metres (26ft) and diameter 20 metres (66ft)."

Rogozin - who is in charge of Russia's part in the International Space Station - last week boasted to schoolchildren and students that Satan-2 could demolish "half the coast of a continent" of a Western enemy", which we may not like due to its aggressive policy".

Two weeks ago, Rogozin threatened to expunge Ukraine from the map and destroy the West in half an hour.

"NATO is waging a war against us," he said at the time.

"They didn't announce it, but that doesn't change anything.

"Now it's obvious to everyone."

The 58-year-old Putin crony said: "In a nuclear war, NATO countries will be destroyed by us in half an hour.

"But we must not allow it, because the consequences of the exchange of nuclear strikes will affect the state of our Earth.

"Therefore, we will have to defeat this economically and militarily more powerful enemy with conventional armed means."

He urged Putin to go further to win the war - with "mobilisation of the state economy."

Industry must be forced to serve military objectives, he said.

"This must be done immediately and quickly," he said.

Using a word that Putin has banned in relation to Ukraine - 'war' - he said: "This is a war for the truth - and the right of Russia to exist as a single and independent state."

He insisted: "The very existence of a Ukraine separate from Russia will inevitably turn it into anti-Russia and a springboard of the West for aggression against our people.

"That is why what we call a Special Military Operation goes far beyond its original meaning and geography."

Get breaking news to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.