New Delhi, May 15 -- Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu on Thursday hailed Russia's RS-28 Sarmat strategic missile system as a defining achievement for the country's scientific and industrial base, casting the next-generation nuclear weapon as evidence that Moscow has preserved its military-technological edge despite years of Western sanctions and geopolitical confrontation.

Speaking to reporters in Bishkek during a regional security gathering, Shoigu described the Sarmat complex as one of the most ambitious projects undertaken by Russia's modern defense industry.

"To receive such a global-range missile with such characteristics is a great victory for our science, our industry, and our designers," Shoigu said, according to...