Moscow: Russia will hold planned exercises of the strategic deterrence forces under the leadership of Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 19, with the launches of ballistic and cruise missiles, the Russian defense ministry said on Friday.
“On February 19, under the leadership of Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian armed forces V V Putin, a planned exercise of strategic deterrence forces will be held, during which ballistic and cruise missiles will be launched,” the ministry said in a statement.
The drills will involve Russia’s aerospace forces, the Southern Military District, the strategic missile forces, the Northern and Black Sea Fleets.
“The exercise of the strategic deterrence forces was planned earlier to check the readiness of military command and control bodies, launch combat crews, crews of warships and strategic missile carriers to carry out assigned tasks, as well as the reliability of weapons of strategic nuclear and non-nuclear forces,” the statement added.