- Yars rockets are six times more powerful than the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima
Vladimir Putin has held his second nuclear war exercise this month in an attempt to stoke fears of the West among his population.
The Russian leader ordered a display of nuclear firepower when he sent his massive Yars mobile missile launchers into the forests of the Volga Basin in eastern Moscow to practice unleashing intercontinental Armageddon.
Yars missiles consist of six small nuclear warheads with a force of more than 100 kilotons, making them six times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
They currently form the main element of the ground-based component of Russia’s strategic nuclear force. The Kommersant newspaper reported that its systems, equipped with multiple warheads, can hit targets up to 11,000 km away.
The Mach 25 missiles have a range of up to 12,000 kilometers, making them possible to attack Europe and the US.
Vladimir Putin has held nuclear war exercises with his Yars mobile missile launchers for the second time this month, in a show of bravado towards the West
Yars rockets have a force of over 100 kilotons, making them six times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima
It comes after Putin warned his financial watchdog he has “no extra money” despite growing budget revenues
Putin has asked the head of the Audit Chamber, Boris Kovalchuk, to eradicate corrupt money flows
The Interfax news agency reported that missile launchers would travel more than 100 km to practice camouflage and deployment techniques. The systems can also be mounted on truck transporters or deployed in silos.
It comes after Putin, who has spent billions on a war that has cost hundreds of thousands of lives, warned his financial regulator that he has no “extra money” left in his coffers.
While claiming revenues were rising, the Kremlin autocrat complained that it was still not enough after Russian taxes were raised and services for citizens were cut. He demanded that Boris Kovalchuk, the head of the Accounts Chamber, tackle the corrupt money flows.
“There is no extra money,” he declared bluntly, in an implicit acknowledgement that his costly war is taking a heavy toll on the Russian economy.
Putin’s war on Ukraine has cost Russian taxpayers £163 billion, according to a Pentagon estimate.
The RAND Corporation, a US global policy think tank, predicted that £102 billion would be spent on the war this year alone.
“That is why I count on you to monitor financial discipline as closely as possible,” he told Kovalchuk, the son of one of the dictator’s closest henchmen, Yuri Kovalchuk, known as “Putin’s personal banker.”
Yars missiles currently form the main element of the ground-based component of the Russian strategic nuclear force
The Interfax news agency reported that the crews of the missile launchers would move more than 100 km to practice camouflage and deployment techniques
Kovalchuk, pictured, is the son of one of the dictator’s closest henchmen, Yuri Kovalchuk, known as ‘Putin’s personal banker’
“Certainly not to miss anything criminal,” he added.
‘In the most urgent cases we have a direct line, so don’t be shy: pick up the phone and call me.’
In a discussion of the combat training, the ministry said that ‘events improve the skills and interoperability of military personnel in formations and military units of the Strategic Missile Forces.’
The latest exercises come at a time when relations between Russia and NATO countries are under severe strain over Putin’s war on Ukraine.
They also come less than two months after Russia conducted joint tactical nuclear weapons deployment exercises with Belarus.