Two months after he launched his invasion of Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin declared that Russia had succeeded in creating a “truly unique weapon” that would force anyone threatening the country “to think twice.”

But more than two years later, there is growing evidence that Russia is still struggling to make sure that the weapon — a next-generation nuclear missile — actually works.

Researchers who study commercial satellite imagery said this week that photographs from space suggested that an attempt to test the intercontinental ballistic missile, known as the Sarmat, ended with the missile, which had no warhead attached, exploding in its silo. The images, taken Saturday by satellite imaging company Maxar Technologies, show what the company said was a 200-foot-wide crater at a Sarmat launch site in northwestern Russia.

– The New York Times