Russian military releases propaganda pop song fantasizing about its nukes wiping out NATO and the US

• A branch of Russia's defense ministry released a pop song celebrating its vast nuclear arsenal.
• The song celebrates the power of the "Sarmat" missile, also known as the "Son of Satan."

The Russian military released a pop song Saturday fantasizing about wiping out NATO and the US with its nuclear weapons.

The song and music video celebrates the Sarmat ICBM, affectionately referred to as "Sarmatushka" in the title.

It is the latest in a series of increasingly overt celebrations of its weapons of mass destruction, which have increased in salience as Russia struggles with its land invasion of Ukraine.

The music video for the song was published by ParkPatriot.media, an arm of the Russian defense ministry focused on propaganda.

It features footage of the Sarmat and what appear to be uniformed Russian soldiers. The fearsome missile can carry large nuclear warheads and has been dubbed the "Son of Satan" for its destructive power.

The song is by Denis Maidanov, a popular singer who also serves in the Russian legislature as a part of President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party. He has been a staunch supporter of the war.

The four-and-a-half-minute video of the song celebrates the efforts to construct the missile, which is the latest in Russia's arsenal and is being integrated into its military in 2022.

It shows images of the Sarmat missile being test-fired and, at one point, showed Maidanov watching Putin speak on TV.

"We are carefully placing our Sarmat / Into a steel container / The dashboard is sleeping / The missile is awaiting command. The Russian Sarmat is ready/ To strike our enemy," Maidanov sings in the video, translated by Insider.

"It's ready to carry out an order / To turn the enemy into dust," he continues. "It has one joy / To disturb NATO's sleep."

Maidanov also says the Sarmat is "looking into the distance ... at the United States."

The song's release coincided with Russia's Strategic Missile Forces Day, dedicated to the units responsible for nuclear weapons.

The missile, which Russia said it successfully tested in April 2022, is expected to carry 10 to 15 individual payloads, each of which can carry several nuclear warheads.

It is an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) designed to reach most places on the planet.

Russia's Ministry of Defense did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Through the war in Ukraine, Putin has relied on state TV and popular entertainment to project his propaganda onto the Russian population.

Russia has the world's largest arsenal of tactical nuclear weapons. Putin has touted his nuclear arsenal on numerous occasions since starting the war in Ukraine, including a speech in September where he insisted he was "not bluffing" about being ready to use them.

Hardline Russian politicians, including former president Dmitry Medvedev, have been more forthright in touting the ability of Russia to wipe out the world with its nukes.

Last week Russia's defense ministry shared a menacing video of an ICBM being loaded into a launch silo, also linked to the strategic-missile-forces day. The ministry said the missile was a "Yars," which has can deliver a nuclear warhead.

However, Russia has taken some steps to nuance its nuclear rhetoric. Earlier this month, Putin said that Russia had not "gone mad" about their use, and would not be the first country to use them, the BBC reported.