Day after Putin’s nuke war warning, Russia tests nuclear ballistic Yars missile

Russia’s defence ministry announced a successful test fire of a Yars intercontinental ballistic nuclear missile on Friday, reported news agency TASS.

“At the state test cosmodrome Plesetsk, crews from the Yoshkar-Ola missile formation carried out a combat training launch of a mobile-based solid-propellant intercontinental ballistic missile PGRK Yars, equipped with multiple warheads. The training warheads arrived at the designated area at the Kura training ground on the Kamchatka Peninsula (translated from Russian),” the Russian defence ministry said, the report added.

The objective of the launch was to confirm the tactical, technical, and flight characteristics of the modern missile system, the statement said, affirming the completion of all assigned tasks.

Putin’s nuke war warning

The test follows Russian president Vladimir Putin’s warning against “increased Western involvement” in the Ukraine war, pointing towards the potential for a “global nuclear conflict”.

Putin, in a two-hour speech, attacked Western leaders as reckless and irresponsible, cautioning about the real threat of a nuclear conflict that could lead to the “destruction of our civilisation”.

“We also have the weapons that can strike targets on their territory, and what they are now suggesting and scaring the world with, all that raises the real threat of a nuclear conflict that will mean the destruction of our civilisation,” Putin said.

How lethal is Yars missile?

• The RS-24 (Yars) missile is 23 meters long and is designed to carry multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles (MIRVs).

• MIRVs enable the Yars missile to deliver multiple nuclear warheads, each capable of targeting different objectives.

• The Yars is a modified version of the Topol-M missile system.

• Russia started the deployment of Yars Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) systems in 2009, with the Yars launcher accepted for experimental combat duty in the Strategic Missile Force.

• In December, Russian rocket forces loaded a new Yars ICBM into a silo at the Kozelsk base in the Kaluga region, southwest of Moscow.

• Russia possesses the world’s largest arsenal of nuclear weapons, with about 5,889 nuclear warheads, making it the leading nuclear power. The United States follows closely with about 5,244 nuclear warheads.

• Both Russia and the United States control over 90 per cent of the world’s nuclear weapons, with approximately 1,670 strategic nuclear warheads deployed by each country.