- A video shows the installation of the huge rocket into a silo in the Kaluga region
- Putin was seen in October overseeing a test launch of a similar Yars missile
- Russian nuclear sabre-rattling has been a constant tactic since Putin launched his invasion in February as a means to intimidate Ukraine’s western allies
Russia issued a new nuclear threat to the West today by ostentatiously readying a Yars strategic missile for combat use at a location southwest of Moscow.
A video shows the installation of the huge rocket into a silo at the Kozelsk military compound in Russia’s western Kaluga region. The missile is capable of striking targets in the United States and Britain.
President Vladimir Putin was seen in late October overseeing the launch of a similar Yars nuclear missile on a mock attack on the West amid high tension over his February 24 invasion of Ukraine and fears he could resort to a nuclear strike.
Russia, whose nuclear sabre-rattling has been a constant tactic since the invasion began as a means to intimidate the west, is building up to more nuclear showboating as it marks the annual Strategic Missile Forces Day on December 17.
The Yars intercontinental ballistic missile with a 7,500 mile range was installed in a silo launch pad using a special transport and loading unit.
The ‘complicated technological operations’ took a few hours.
Division commander Col. Alexei Sokolov made clear the exercise was aimed at sending a message to the West, with both the UK and US within range.
‘The importance of this operation lies in the fact that the next missile will be put on combat duty on schedule,’ he said.
‘The homeland will get another nuclear missile weapon, which will make it possible to solve any tasks at the strategic level.’
The Yars is a modification of the Topol-M missile system, and was first deployed in 2009. In the October drill, Russia allegedly practiced its response to a Western nuclear attack.
Russian state TV said the Putin drills were aimed at targeting the UK and US.
The footage showed the huge missile being transported on a lorry through a snowy forest, escorted by Russian military vehicles, before arriving at the silo in the middle of a snow-covered field.
The missile was then shown in a time-lapse being lifted up by the lorry’s detachable lifting mechanism to a 90-degree angle, so that it was over the top of the silo and ready to be lowered in.
The base of the missile is then seen appearing from the bottom of the lorry’s container, before it slowly descends into the hole the hole in the ground.
