(VitalNews.org) – Moscow claims that it has successfully launched an ICBM capable of carrying up to six nuclear warheads. They announced that the missile was launched from an undisclosed site and struck its target thousands of kilometers away.
Reportedly, on Sunday, Russian officials said an ICBM named Bulava was launched from the strategic nuclear submarine Imperator Alexander III in the White Sea toward the far eastern Kamchatka peninsula.
This new Russian nuclear submarine from the Borei class is said to be more maneuverable and quieter than its predecessors and can carry 16 Bulava missiles each.
According to the defense ministry, the Russian navy now has three Borei-class submarines in service, with another completing testing and three more under construction.
Moscow’s nuclear triad relies on the Bulava missile, which is more than 8,000 kilometers (5,000 miles) in range and measures 12 meters (39 feet) in length.
Since it launched its operation against Ukraine in February, the West has accused Moscow of employing reckless nuclear rhetoric and threats. The United States has harshly condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin for rescinding Russia’s endorsement of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty earlier this week. Although the United States and China were both signatories to a treaty banning nuclear explosions and live tests of nuclear weapons in 1996, the agreement never went into effect.
This year, Russia also announced that it would no longer be a party to the New START pact, the last major nuclear arms limitation accord signed by Moscow and Washington, but that it would nonetheless abide by the treaty’s limits on nuclear weapons.
Russia’s nuclear and conventional forces were decimated in the chaos that followed the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991, but since President Vladimir Putin’s ascension to power in 1999, he has spent more money to restore them.
In an interview broadcast on Sunday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declared that relations with the United States had sunk to “zero.”
Peskov added that Putin has made it clear that he is open to communication with anyone at any time.
According to Russian media reports, Russia plans to construct 10–12 Borei-class submarines for its Northern and Pacific fleets.
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