Putin takes part in army drills, fires missiles

MOSCOW

President Vladimir Putin has personally overseen the launch of four nuclear-capable ballistic missiles as part of a training exercise for Russia’s strategic nuclear forces, the Kremlin said on Oct. 27, the Interfax news agency reported.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that “the supreme commander carried out launches of four ballistic missiles,” personally.

“During the training, the interaction of the Strategic Missile Forces, nuclear submarines of the Northern and Pacific Fleets and long-range aircraft of the Russian Air Forces was worked out,” Peskov added.

The test launches, conducted on Oct. 26, involved land, air, and submarine-based ballistic missiles, Russia’s defense ministry said in a separate statement.

A “Topol” intercontinental ballistic missile was fired from the Plesetsk testing ground in the northwest of the country and three ballistic missiles were launched by two nuclear missile submarines (SSBNs), two from the Okhotsk Sea, north of Japan, and one from the Barents Sea, in the Arctic Ocean.

Russian military forces “have carried out an exercise to manage its strategic nuclear forces,” the ministry said.

Strategic bombers Tu-160, Tu-95MC and Tu-22M3 also took off from several Russian air bases and launched cruise missiles at “ground-based” targets in Kamchatka, eastern Russia, in the Komi Republic, in the north, and on Russian military terrain in Kazakhstan.

“All objectives of the training have been successfully completed,” the statement said.