Russia's Putin oversees four nuclear-capable ballistic missile test fires

Lev Fedoseev  TASS

Lev Fedoseev TASS

The Defence Ministry said on Thursday that three ballistic missiles were fired from nuclear submarines and one from a launchpad in Russia's northwest as part of the drills.

The training exercises by the Russia's Strategic Nuclear Forces late Thursday included tests of land, air and submarine-based missiles, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The exercise comes just one week after Putin, who carries a "nuclear briefcase" containing a launch system wherever he goes, denied that Russian Federation had violated the 1987 nuclear-arms treaty with the U.S.

According to the military ministry, the strategic bombers Topolev-160, Topolev-85MS and Topolev-22MZ participated in the training.

Video released by the country's defence ministry showed a Topol intercontinental missile being launched from northwestern Russian Federation to strike a target on the other side of the country in the far east.

Earlier in October, Russia conducted exercises involving intercontinental ballistic missile launchers.

Unlike the Topol, which is a single-warhead weapon, the Yars is believed to carry multiple warheads and have a much greater range than its predecessor.

"There is a discrepancy between what Russia briefed before the exercise... and the actual numbers and the scale and the scope of the exercise", NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg told reporters after a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council (NRC).

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