Russia has conducted large-scale strategic exercises involving elements of the nuclear triad, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.
The launches took place from the Plesetsk state test cosmodrome, and it was announced that the RS-24 Yars intercontinental ballistic missile hit a target at the Kura test site in Kamchatka.
From the Barents Sea, the Bryansk strategic nuclear submarine launched an R-29RMU2 Sineva ballistic missile.
Tu-95MS long-range aircraft were also involved in the exercises, launching air-launched cruise missiles.
The practical launches were controlled from the Russian Federation’s National Defense Control Center under the supervision of senior military leadership.
The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that the purpose of the exercises was to test the readiness of military command and control bodies and the practical skills of operational personnel.
Russia conducted similar exercises at the same time last year. At the end of this summer, the aggressor country planned to test the latest cruise missile with a nuclear power plant, the Burevestnik.
RS-24 Yars
The Yars mobile missile system with an intercontinental ballistic missile designed to strike strategic targets at a range of up to 11,000 kilometers.
Several stages of solid-fuel engines power the missile’s flight.
R-29RMU2 Sineva
The R-29RMU2 Sineva intercontinental three-stage ballistic missile is part of the D-9RM missile complex.
The system is deployed on Project 667BDRM Delfin strategic nuclear submarines.
Russian Sineva ballistic missile during training. October 2024, Russia. Frame from a video by the Russian Ministry of Defense
The Sineva missile is said to have a range of 8,300–11,547 km and a warhead weight of up to 2,800 kg. The warhead can carry four 500-kiloton nuclear warheads.
