Russia announced that it successfully test-launched a new nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile called Sarmat on Wednesday. The missile is a strategic weapon Russian President Vladimir Putin said had no analogues elsewhere and would protect Russia from external threats.

The missile was fired from a silo at 03:12 p.m. Moscow Time from the Plesetsk state test cosmodrome in northwest Russia's Arkhangelsk region, the country's Defense Ministry said.

The training warheads reached a targeted area at the Kura test ground on the Kamchatka Peninsula (nearly 6,000 kilometers away from Plesetsk) and the tasks were completed in full, said the ministry's statement.

After the test, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the new missile has "the highest tactical and technical characteristics and is able to overcome all modern means of anti-missile defense."

Sarmat will strengthen the combat potential of the Russian Armed Forces, protect Russia from external threats, and "make those who, in the heat of frenzied and aggressive rhetoric, try to threaten our country think," he said in an online meeting with top defense officials.

(With input from Xinhua)