Russia's Yars nuclear missile unit conducts combat readiness drills

Russia's Yars intercontinental ballistic missile

The Russian Defense Ministry said on October 18 that the country's military was checking the combat readiness of a unit equipped with Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles in a region northwest of Moscow.

The Yars missile, which can be deployed in silos or mounted on mobile launchers, has a range of up to 11,000 km and is capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads, according to Reuters.

During the test, a unit in the Tver region moved Yars missiles on the field over a distance of up to 100 km under camouflage, simulating a situation of protection from enemy air attacks and sabotage groups, Interfax news agency reported, citing information from the Defense Ministry.

The test came as NATO conducted its annual nuclear exercises and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced a "victory plan".

Russia previously conducted two drills involving Yars missile units in July. It has also held three drills this year to test preparations for launching tactical nuclear missiles, which have a shorter range than intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Russia has conducted a series of nuclear exercises this year in moves seen by security analysts as signals aimed at deterring the West from further intervention in the war in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said last month that Moscow had expanded the list of scenarios that could prompt the country to use nuclear weapons, essentially lowering the threshold for using them.

In another development, Newsweek magazine quoted Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi as denying a report in Bild that Kyiv was moving closer to building a nuclear bomb. The October 17 article quoted an anonymous senior Ukrainian official “specializing in arms procurement.”

Mr Tykhyi stressed that Ukraine "remains a committed party" to the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, in which Kyiv agreed to dismantle its nuclear arsenal in exchange for security guarantees from the US, UK and Russia.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/unit-vi-ten-lua-hat-nhan-yars-cua-nga-dien-tap-san-sang-chien-dau-185241018144317003.htm