A Russian Yars intercontinental ballistic missile system drives in Red Square during a military parade on Victory Day, which marks the 78th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in central Moscow, Russia May 9, 2023. Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Russian rocket forces have successfully placed a fresh Yars intercontinental ballistic missile into a silo at the Kozelsk base in the Kaluga region, southwest of Moscow, according to the defense ministry.
Multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles (MIRVs), which enable the missile to deliver multiple nuclear warheads at distinct targets, are built into the 23-meter-long RS-24 (Yars) missile.
“In the Kozelsky compound, Strategic Missile Forces loaded a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile into a silo launcher,” the defence ministry said.
The defence ministry released a clip of the giant missile being transported to a silo and loaded into a shaft. It accompanied the video with pounding rock music.
Russia has the world’s largest arsenal of nuclear weapons, closely followed by the United States. Together, Russia and the United States control more than 90% of the world’s nuclear weapons.
Russia has about 5,889 nuclear warheads while the United States has about 5,244, according to the Federation of American Scientists. Of those, Russia and the United States each have about 1,670 strategic nuclear warheads deployed.
