Russia is continuing work to put its Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile – part of its strategic nuclear arsenal – on combat duty, state news agency TASS said Wednesday.

The RS-28 Sarmat missile is designed to deliver nuclear warheads to strike targets thousands of miles away in the United States or Europe, but its development has been dogged by delays and testing setbacks.

In September, arms experts said Russia appeared to have suffered a catastrophic failure in the missile's latest test, leaving a deep crater at the launch silo.