On Thursday, April 21, Russia test launched a Sarmat ICBM that traveled more than 3,500 miles and struck mock targets on the far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula. Referred to as the "Satan 2", the ICBM is capable of carrying nuclear payloads and hypersonic glide vehicles. The test comes as Russian nuclear forces have been on high alert status since late February. President Putin bragged that the missile "has the highest tactical and technical characteristics and is capable of overcoming all modern means of anti-missile defense."
Also on Thursday, April 21, China launched its “YJ-21” or “Eagle Strike 21” hypersonic anti-ship missile, said to be designed to target aircraft carriers, in what seems to be a show of Beijing's naval capabilities and a warning to the US Navy. The display of naval power came ahead of the Chinese navy’s 73rd anniversary last weekend. In a video clip of the apparent launch, the YJ-21 is shown being launched from a Type 055 vessel, a guided-missile destroyer said to be the largest, most advanced destroyer in China’s fleet.
On Friday, April 22, the US became the first country to announce a ban on missile tests against space satellites. US Vice-President Kamala Harris, who chairs the National Space Council, said such tests were reckless. The US, China, India and Russia have all carried them out and have generated space debris in doing so. She said stopping the direct ascent anti-satellite (ASAT) missile testing will safeguard satellites in low-Earth orbit and she urged other nations to follow suit.
Additionally on Friday, the US announced the Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense J7 Directorate and its Joint Ballistic Missile Defense Training and Education Center, or JBTEC would provide training to Baltic States' military members at the Estonia Control and Reporting Center in Tallinn, Estonia. The training audience included members of the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian Air Forces.
On Saturday, April 23, at least eight people were killed when two cruise missiles struck a residential neighborhood on the outskirts of the Black Sea port city of Odesa, Ukrainian officials said. At least 18 were wounded in the strike, according to Andriy Yermak, the head of the presidential administration. He said a three-month-old baby was among the dead. Saturday’s attack was carried out by a Russian Tu-95 strategic bomber flying over the Caspian Sea, according to a statement by Ukraine’s southern air defense forces. It said the bomber fired six cruise missiles, two of which were taken out by a Ukrainian missile defense system.
Last week, President Biden's secretary of state and Pentagon chief completed a secrecy-shrouded trip to Kyiv. In the highest-level American visit to the capital since Russia invaded in late February, top envoy Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Ukraine's president, Volodomyr Zelenskyy, and his advisers that the U.S. would provide more than $300 million in foreign military financing and had approved a $165 million sale of ammunition.
