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“My belief:
A completely decisive first strike is the only answer to this kind of weapons development. Vlad Putin is a Russian devil.”

OK, it is clear that many of the posts on this thread are typical of those involving nuclear weapons over the years, which is to say that they are written by people with less than full information, and probably less than a full deck. Let’s try to deal with facts, shall we? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R-36_(missile)

The Satan II missile will replace the Satan I missile (also known as the SS-18, of which there were 5 versions, the Mod. 5 being the most lethal, as one might imagine). The missile generally had 10 warheads of approximately 750 kt to 1 Mt each (though the Russians said that the yield was lower). This was definitely a first strike weapon - and they had 308 of them, so you’re looking at 3,080 warheads (assuming 10 per missile, even though some had 20 or 25 MT warheads for taking out extremely hard targets like NORAD HQ). Note that this would have allowed the Soviets to first-strike every single land-based US missile with 2 warheads, and still have about 1,000 warheads left JUST FROM THE SS-18.

Note that the SS-18 was initially deployed in 1974, so we lived with it (and thousands of other Soviet nukes) for quite a while. So don’t be in such a rush to start WW3 with a first strike - peace has prevailed, and will continue to prevail, so long as sane people are in control of both countries. You should not, for that reason, ever run for President.

Oh, and on the “Vlad Putin is a Russian devil” issue, let’s also think that one through, shall we? I don’t have access to data on Putin like I do (and everyone else does) about the SS-18 or the Satan II. However, I think it logical to assume that the Russian leadership would not allow a “devil” to assume and retain authority to start a war that would end up largely destroying Russia, a nation with a very long history and a very hard kept independence. They’re not going to allow another Stalin to come to power. Also, my read on Putin (and you’re free to have your own) is that he is simply a nationalist that wants to first preserve his nation and make it more prosperous, and second to expand its power (the goal of which is to make it yet more likely to survive and prosper than simply keeping things as they are now). He has picked off weak adversaries (Ukraine, Syria, etc.), but NEVER had a conflict with anyone tougher. He makes noise occasionally about conflict, but it is similar to what a rattlesnake does - warn you to stay the F away, or he’ll bite you. He really doesn’t want to bite you, because he knows that this carries unacceptable risks - he’ll do it if backed into a corner, but that’s about all. Wisdom on our part would AVOID backing Russian into such a corner, and not even a lot of wisdom, at that.

Again, please don’t run for President, you’re not suited well for the job.