The readiness of Russia’s strategic nuclear forces have been tested during exercises
Russia has conducted testing of land, sea, and air elements of the country’s nuclear deterrence triad, according to video footage provided by the Defense Ministry in Moscow.
The drills were overseen by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.
As part of the exercises, a land-based Yars intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) was launched from the Plesetsk state test cosmodrome in Northern Russia, towards a test site in Kamchatka, in the country’s Far East.
Video of the test shows launch preparations and the missile blasting off.
The exercise also included the launch of a sea-based Sineva ICBM from the Russian nuclear submarine Bryansk in the Barents Sea, as well as air-launched cruise missiles from TU-95 strategic bombers, the Defense Ministry said.
The drills included “practicing the procedure for authorizing the use of nuclear weapons,” Russia’s Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov told Putin on Wednesday.
The exercises came just over a month after the Russian-Belarusian Zapad-2025 drills, which involved over 41 training grounds and 100,000 service members. They were attended by military observers from multiple nations, including the US.
The Kremlin reiterated at the time that the exercises were “not aimed against any state.”
