Turchynov: Russia rehearsed massive ballistic missile strike to conclude Zapad-2017 drills
At the final stage of the Zapad 2017 military exercises, Russia rehearsed a massive nuclear missile strike, involving the forces and equipment of all three components of the nuclear triad, reported Oleksandr Turchynov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC), as cited by the NSDC press service.
According to Turchynov, on September 20, the last day of the drills, six long-distance Tu-95MS and Tu-22M3 aircraft were engaged to fly in the airspace of the Barents, Baltic and Norwegian seas.
“The strategic missile forces were represented by a task force from the 14th missile division, which carried out a combat training launch of an RS-24 Yars intercontinental ballistic missile from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome (Arkhangelsk province) against targets at the Kura training ground (Kamchatka peninsula). The strategic missile submarine Dmitry Donskoy from Russia’s Northern Fleet launched a sea-based intercontinental ballistic missile,” the NSDC cites Turchynov as saying.
In addition, according to the NSDC secretary’s information, missiles were fired at marine targets. Tasks forces of Rubezh coastal missile systems fired at targets in the waters of the Laptev Sea, and Northern Fleet ship groups, led by the heavy nuclear missile battlecruiser ‘Pyotr Veliky’, fired at targets in the waters of the Barents Sea.
“The Russian Armed Forces’ rehearsal of a massive missile and air strike once again confirms the aggressive and offensive nature of Russia’s foreign policy and security policy, its willingness to escalate tension with the west, even up to the point of waging a full-scale ware, and demonstrates Russia’s desire to dominate in Europe,” Turchynov believes.
The NSDC Secretary added that the active measures taken by NATO and the US Armed Forces to monitor the Russian military activity are evidence that the western militaries “completely understand the scale of the Russian military threat”.
He noted that from September 21, Ukraine and its partner states would carefully monitor the withdrawal of Russian forces from Belarusian territory and their return to their points of permanent deployment, following the completion of the drills.
On September 20, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced the end of the Zapad 2017 exercises.