Russian military exercise features ICBM launchers

MOSCOW — The Russian military is conducting sweeping drills that involve dozens of intercontinental ballistic missile launchers.

The Defence Ministry said Tuesday in a statement carried by the Interfax news agency that the maneuvers involve more than 60 Topol, Topol-M and Yars missile launchers.

All those types of nuclear-tipped ICBMs are mounted on heavy trucks, making it more difficult for an enemy to spot and destroy them. The ministry said the drills are spread across vast area from the Tver region northwest of Moscow to the Irkutsk region in eastern Siberia.

The maneuvers follow massive war games conducted last month by Russia and Belarus that caused jitters in some NATO countries, including Poland and the Baltics.

The Russian military has intensified its combat training amid tensions with NATO over Ukraine.

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