Shortly after withdrawing from the international treaty banning nuclear tests, Russia launched a missile from a new nuclear submarine.
Moscow – Russia is pushing ahead with the expansion of its navy. A few days after withdrawing from the international treaty banning nuclear tests Russia According to its own statements, it tested an intercontinental ballistic missile that could be equipped with nuclear warheads. The Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday (November 5th) that a Bulava-type missile was launched in the White Sea from the submarine “Emperor Alexander III.”
The ballistic missile was launched from an underwater position off Russia’s northern coast of the Barents Sea and hit a target thousands of kilometers away on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia’s Far East, it said. The ministry did not say when the test took place.
Russian Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile: range of 8,000 kilometers
This is the first test of a Bulava missile in over a year. The twelve-meter-long Bulawa missiles with the NATO code name SS-NX-30 have a range of 8,000 kilometers. According to the Russian army, the strategic submarine “Emperor Alexander III,” from which the projectile was fired, is equipped with 16 Bulava missiles and modern torpedo weapons.
The Russian Navy has three Borei-class nuclear-powered submarines, one is in the testing phase and three more are under construction, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. The Bulava missile is estimated to have a range of around 8,000 kilometers and can carry up to six nuclear warheads. It has become the centerpiece of the naval part of Russia’s nuclear arsenal.
Russia: Aggressive rhetoric on nuclear weapons
Since the Ukraine war began in February 2022, the Russian President Wladimir Putin has repeatedly used aggressive rhetoric about nuclear weapons from a Western perspective. Relocated in summer 2023 Moscow tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of its ally Belarus, whose territory borders several NATO and EU states.
Putin sealed his withdrawal from the Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) on Thursday (November 2) by signing a corresponding law. On Friday, however, the Russian Foreign Ministry declared that it would continue to refrain from testing nuclear weapons. (so with afp/rtr)
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