TIMING: Russia says it has successfully tested a new intercontinental missile that can evade defenses.

Russia announced on Wednesday it had successfully launched a new missile that it said could deploy nuclear warheads at hypersonic speeds anywhere in the world and outwit defenses, a move that President Vladimir V. Putin said was aimed at showing Russia’s adversaries that they needed to “think twice” before threatening his country.

But even if the test was successful, the new missile does not appear ready for use. The Russian Defense Ministry said Wednesday’s test launch of the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile was its first and that it would enter Russia’s arsenal only “after the completion of the testing program.”

The RS-28 Sarmat was originally supposed to enter service two years ago. This announcement sounds more like an effort to turn around the new narrative that the Russian armed forced aren’t all they were cracked up to be before the Ukraine War.