Satellite images suggest Russia suffered a "catastrophic failure" of a missile launch at a remote test site.
Reuters reported that arms experts who analysed the images captured by Maxar on the weekend said they show a crater at a launch silo at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia where there wasn't damage previously.
Some experts believed the failure of an RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile launch might have caused the crater.
"By all indications, it was a failed test. It's a big hole in the ground," Pavel Podvig, who runs the Russian Nuclear Forces project, told Reuters.
"There was a serious incident with the missile and the silo."
Another expert, Timothy Wright, research associate at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London, also weighed in on the images.
"One possible cause is that the first stage (booster) either failed to ignite properly or suffered from a catastrophic mechanical failure, causing the missile to fall back into or land closely adjacent to the silo and explode," he said.
Nuclear specialist James Acton posted his thoughts about the incident on X, stating it might not have been a Sarmat missile that caused the explosion.
"I'd be a bit cautious here. This image may show the aftermath of a failed Sarmat test but I'm not yet convinced ... Sarmat appears to be fuelled by N204 & UDMH. If it exploded, I'd expect a load of red/orange dust everywhere. But there's not."
The Kremlin referred Reuters' questions on the possible Sarmat explosion to the defence ministry.
According to Reuters, the ministry did not respond to a request for comment and has made no announcements about planned Sarmat tests in recent days.
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