Mystery Russian rocket launch sparks claims Putin hypersonic missile test failed
A mystery explosion and trail in the sky has been reported from a spaceport in northern Russia after claims a Satan II hypersonic missile test went wrong.
A picture taken in the area shows a white trail low in the sky 22 miles from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, northern Russia, where a Satan II missile test is expected to be launched.
It was suspected Russia would be testing the giant 208-ton nuclear-capable missile on Vladimir Putin's orders at some point this month.
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US sources told CNN a test in recent days appears to have failed, without more detail of how or why it had gone awry.
CNN reported Russia notified the United States in advance of the launch through deconfliction lines.
While Vladimir Putin warned last year the Satan II missile would “give thought to those who are trying to threaten Russia”, another US official said the test did not pose a risk to the United States and it did not view the test as an anomaly or an escalation.
The test’s failure is believed to be the reason Putin made no mention of it in his major State of the Nation speech on Tuesday (February 21), having hoped to boast about a successful test of a weapon that could inflict Armageddon on the world in the nearly two hour-long speech.
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Despite several eyewitness accounts, the Russian Defence ministry did not announce any launch nor respond to media requests for comment.
A local resident told a local news outlet he heard “such a huge blast”.
“There was a huge loud bang, and it went on rumbling for a whole minute,” said the man, named Maksim.
“I rushed outside to have a look, and didn’t see anything, but there was a trail very low in the sky.
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“I could even see it being wiped away by the wind.”
Another local resident Sofia Danilova said she saw a similar trail on the same day over Arkhangelsk.
While she didn’t hear a blast off, she said it definitely wasn’t a plane: “We know how they fly and how they look."
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