Russia launches Yars, Sineva nuclear missiles during wargame as Trump cancels meeting with Putin; US sanctions oil majors Rosneft and Lukoil

Just hours after the proposed meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin on ending the war in Ukraine was cancelled, the latter on Wednesday (October 22) responded by ordering his Strategic Nuclear Forces to a large-scale military exercise involving their land, sea, and air components of the country's armed forces. A few hours after the Putin mandated military wargames, which saw the launch of a land-based nuclear tipped intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and another from a submarine, the American President hit back by imposing another round of sanctions on two of Russia's largest oil companies.

Trump on October 16, 2025, announced that he would meet Putin in Hungary's capital Budapest soon. But Moscow's refusal to stop its military offensive in Ukraine forced Washington to put the summit meeting on hold indefinitely even as Russia once again showed off its nuclear prowess. Russia continued to pound Ukraine with an overwhelming force with its drones hitting several buildings in Kiev on Wednesday night too after a barrage a day earlier. Russian missiles, too, found their mark in different Ukrainian cities.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry statement "under the leadership of Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, Strategic Nuclear Forces conducted training exercises with the involvement of their ground-, sea- and air-based components. During the exercises, practical launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles and air-based cruise missiles were carried out."


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Russian nuclear missiles launched

The military exercise saw the launch of a RS-24 Yars ICBM also called Topol-MR (NATO designation SS-29 or SS-27 Mod) from the Plesetsk State Cosmodrome in Russian west to a designated target in the Kura training ground in Kamchatka in the far east. The distance covered by the Yars missile was 6,000 km (3,700 miles), almost the entire length of Russia. The maximum distance at which the Yars, a three-stage solid-fuel ICBM with a capability to carry four multiple independently targetable warheads (MIRV), can hit a target is 11,000 km (6,800 mi) to 12,000 km (7,500 mi).


Another missile which was test fired was the R-29RMU2 Sineva (NATO designation SS-N-23 Skiff), a submarine launched ICMS with a maximum range of 8,300 km (over 5150 miles). The launch of Sineva was from the nuclear strategic missile cruiser submarine Bryansk in the Barents Sea. The three-stage liquid-propellant missile can carry four (500 kiloton) to 10 (100 kiloton) MIRV to hit multiple targets.


As part of the air component of the exercise, a Tupolev Tu-95MS (NATO designation Bear) long-range aircraft fired air-launched cruise missiles. "The practical launches were operated from the National Centre for State Defense Control of the Russian Federation," the Russian Defense Ministry stated.



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Trump-Putin summit cancelled

Later on Wednesday, the Trump administration announced another round of sanctions on Russia to pressure Putin to agree to a ceasefire and peace deal in Ukraine. Russian oil majors Rosneft and Lukoil were put on the sanctions list, a move which is the first time Trump has imposed sanctions on Russia since becoming the 47th President of the United States of America.

"Given President Putin’s refusal to end this senseless war, Treasury is sanctioning Russia’s two largest oil companies that fund the Kremlin’s war machine,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said of the Trump administration's decision.

Earlier, Trump voiced his frustration with Putin for not moving ahead with a peace deal on Ukraine. “We canceled the meeting with President Putin - it just didn’t feel right to me. It didn’t feel like we were going to get to the place we have to get. So I canceled it, but we’ll do it in the future," Trump was quoted by Reuters telling reporters at the White House.

"Every time I speak to Vladimir, I have good conversations and then they don't go anywhere. They just don't go anywhere," he added.