Russia does not skimp when it comes to presenting its military might in public. During the attack on Ukraine, it has already shown the capacity for action of its weapons of mass destruction. However, that would not be all of his deployment. President Vladimir Putin has a choice that clouds Europe’s historical memory. It is the Satan 2, a ballistic missile that could devastate a country the size of France.

Given the few omens of de-escalation of violence by Russia against Ukraine – a country that is still waiting for support from the West – the fear of a possible nuclear attack is increasing. The president, under the excuse that his Ukrainian counterpart does not want to negotiate and in the face of daily sanctions from countries and international organizations, has cooled a possible truce.

The former KGB member has even stepped up his militia presence. In one of his latest threats, he assured that NATO is allowing itself “aggressive declarations” against his country and warned that if, in addition to Ukraine, it affiliates Sweden and Finland, he would take more drastic measures. That release has caused international uncertainty, which knows that Russia currently has the most powerful nuclear weapon in the world: Satan 2.

Origin of Satan 2

In 2016, two years after taking Crimea, Russia showed images of the new model of its nuclear forces: the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which has the official name MS-28 Sarmat, but which NATO assigned the nomenclature of Satan 2 or, in Spanish, Satan 2. That year it entered the creation process and in 2018 it entered the testing phase.

Under the direction of the Russian Ministry of Defense, two examples were launched as tests on different occasions from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, in the northern province of Arkhangelsk, near the Arctic Circle. “Let them explain where an ejection test falls in the early stages of development of an intercontinental missile program and how far the object in question travelled,” said then-Pentagon spokesman Johnny Michael.

The Russian Government, which reported at the beginning of 2020 that the device had already “entered an active phase”, had announced that it is one of the “most powerful” in its arsenal. Not only did they describe it as invulnerable and almost ghostly by virtue of being untraceable, but they also revealed that its ability is not reduced if the impact zone has a greater distance. It can harm Texas in the same way, in the United States, or France, they assured.

How is Satan 2, Russia’s most fearsome ballistic missile?

According to the Sputnik report in 2016, this weapon, which came to replace the USSR missile named Voyevoda (Satan 1), can destroy a territory the “size of Texas or France”.It has 40 megatons and, according to an alarming comparison, it has the capacity of 2,000 times the Hiroshima bomb. The nuclear device that the United States used against the Japanese city only had 0.02 megatons.

The Satan 2 could also carry up to 10 heavy or 16 light warheads. These could be combined to include electronic countermeasures to bypass the missile shield. In addition, it would have a radius of action of 10,000 kilometers, a supersonic speed of 24,500 kilometers per hour and would only work with liquid fuel.

Vladimir Putin had indicated, in March 2018, that it would be “equipped with a wide range of high-yield nuclear warheads, including hypersonic ones, and the most modern missile defense penetration systems.” “Due to its characteristics, no missile defense system, not even future ones, is an obstacle for it. It is invincible,” he had added.

The Satan 2 can already be used by Russia?

In April 2021, the Russian president had indicated that the Satan 2 would be operational in the last months of 2022, which has raised alarms due to the current attack that has begun against Ukraine since last February 24, which does not have signs of de-escalation in the short term.

“Advanced Avangard intercontinental-range missile systems and Peresvet combat lasers have already been put into operational service, while the first regiment fully equipped with Sarmat heavy ICBMs will enter service by the end of 2022, as planned”, he had detailed during his annual speech at the Russian Federal Assembly.