The Russian Ministry of Defense said today, Wednesday, that the Russian Strategic Missile Forces have started scheduled exercises that include the intercontinental ballistic Yaris missile systems.
“More than 3,000 military personnel and about 300 pieces of equipment in total participated in the exercises,” the ministry said in a statement via the messaging app Telegram.
What are the most prominent specifications of the “Yaris” missile?
- The Yaris missile can carry 3 to 6 devastating warheads to a distance of 10.5 thousand km.
- It can also carry a devastating hypersonic warhead “Avanguard”, according to the Russian news agency “Sputnik”.
- Likewise, the “Yaris” missile can be launched from a platform hidden under the ground or from a mobile platform, knowing that it becomes ready for launch within only 7 minutes.
- The Yaris is a modification of the “Topol-M” missile, and was designed by the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technologies.
The Russian announcement of the exercises came hours after US President Joe Biden described his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin’s announcement of the deployment of nuclear weapons in Belarus as “dangerous”.
“It is a dangerous and troubling announcement,” Biden told reporters at the White House.
On Saturday, the master of the Kremlin announced that he was going to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, which is headed by Alexander Lukashenko, who is one of Putin’s closest allies.
Washington condemned the Russian announcement, which came more than a year after Moscow launched a military operation in pro-Western Ukraine, which borders both Russia and Belarus.
