- Yars ICBMs are the main ground-based threat in Russia's strategic nuclear force
Vladimir Putin's forces are holding yet more nuclear missile drills amid an ongoing programme of strategic military exercises, wheeling out terrifying intercontinental ballistic missiles in new footage released today.
Unsettling footage shows mobile Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) being moved from hangars into forest locations in Russia's remote Irkutsk region of Siberia for potential combat use.
The missiles, which soar through space and re-enter the atmosphere at Mach 25 have a range of up to 7,500 miles, enabling a strike on Europe and the US.
Yars ICBMs are currently the main element of the ground-based component of the Russian strategic nuclear force.
The latest drills come amid deep strains between Russia and NATO countries over Putin's war against Ukraine, pushing East-West relations to their lowest point since the Cuban Missile Crisis in the 1960s.
Unsettling footage shows mobile Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) being moved from hangars into forest locations in Russia 's remote Irkutsk region
The missiles, which soar through space and re-enter the atmosphere at Mach 25 have a range of up to 7,500 miles, enabling a strike on Europe and the US
Drills of Russia's strategic missile forces in the Irkutsk region. Footage from the Defence Ministry's TV channel shows Yars missile carriers
In this photo taken from video released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Friday, March 1, 2024, a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile is test-fired from the Plesetsk launch pad in northwestern Russia
Russian Yars intercontinental ballistic missile launchers parade through Red Square during the Victory Day military parade in central Moscow on May 9, 2022
Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, June 25, 2024
Yars missiles carry six independently targetable nuclear warheads, each with a power of more than 100 kilotons.
That means one Yars strike can hit six different targets with each resulting explosion some six times more powerful than the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
Unlike Russia's largest nuclear missile, the Sarmat, the Yars system is a soild fuel rocket, meaning it is easier to transport and faster to launch as it does not have to be fuelled at the launch site.
It can be launched from silos dug into the ground, but can also be mounted on a transporter truck.
In the event of nuclear war, that means the Yars missiles can be dispersed across a large area - making the much harder to track down and destroy before they can be fired.
A report on the latest military drills by Russia's Zvezda TV said: 'The exercises include a set of measures aimed at improving the combat readiness and operational flexibility of the strategic missile forces.
'The military are improving their skills in camouflage, rapid deployment and manoeuvring in the face of possible enemy attacks.
'An important part of the training is to test the stability of communications and coordination between different units.
'This included drills in extracting the mobile missile complexes for deployment through 'a zone of… chemical contamination'.
'The strategic missile troops are also addressing the challenges posed by sabotage and reconnaissance groups,' said the Russian defence ministry.
These latest nuclear drills come hours after Russia's top diplomat for arms control said on Tuesday that Moscow had made advances in nuclear deterrence that would allow it to ensure its security for decades to come even in an era dominated by advances in Artificial Intelligence.
Asked at a conference in Moscow if Russia could ensure nuclear security in an era of AI competition, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said it could.
'In recent years, such groundwork has been done in the field of nuclear deterrence that will allow us to ensure our own security for decades to come,' Ryabkov, Russia's arms control point man, said.
He warned that if the West underestimated Moscow's resolve, it could lead to 'tragic and fatal' consequences because the US and its allies were confronting a major nuclear power in Russia.
A Russian serviceman stands to attention and prepares to signal to operators of the mobile missile carriers
Drills of Russia's strategic missile forces in the Irkutsk region. Footage from the Defence Ministry's TV channel shows Yars missile carriers
A Yars ICBM is launched by Russian strategic nuclear forces in this October 2022 clip
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov attends the Conference on Disarmament at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland March 2, 2023
Ryabkov said the West underestimated 'Russia's readiness to stand up for itself and ensure its own interests in any situation.'
'I don't even want to assume that this underestimation could become tragic and fatal,' he said.
He said Russia had the resources to convey signals to the West in the field of nuclear deterrence but there was a danger the West could make a mistake.
'There is a danger, it cannot be underestimated, that their side may make a mistake. We will try not to,' he said.
'Our common task is to prevent the world and the multipolar world, above all, from sliding into nuclear chaos,' Ryabkov said.
Earlier, Alexei Arbatov, a prominent arms control expert, suggested that without dialogue on strategic stability between Russia and the US, then the multi-polar world could slide into nuclear chaos.
Arbatov said Russia and the US should resume dialogue on strategic stability after the Ukraine war ends.
Arbatov suggested Russia and the US should preserve New START, which expires in 2026, and agree a new arms control agreement.
After that, Arbatov said, China, Britain and France could be included in strategic dialogue.
