Russia tests ballistic missiles

Russia conducted tests of land and submarine-based ballistic missiles on Saturday and Sunday in an obvious signal to the West.

The Topol ICBM was launched from the taiga forests of Russia's north and landed thousands of miles away in the Kamchatka Peninsula. The submarine launches took place in the Barents Sea and in the Sea of Okhotsk. The Barents Sea test missile landed 7,100 miles away in the equatorial Pacific.

New versions of the Topol are said by Russian officials to be capable of penetrating anti-ballistic missile defenses, an allusion to the new NATO systems scheduled for installation near Russia's European borders.

Voice of America

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Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, left, speaks with Col. Gen. Nikolai Solovtsov, the commander of Russia's strategic missile forces, as they stand in front of a transporter with a mobile version of Topol intercontinental ballistic missile before it's launch at the Plesetsk cosmodrome in northern Russia, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2008. Medvedev watched a missile soar from Russia's rain-soaked northern forests toward a target thousands of kilometers away on Sunday, capping a weekend of launches reminding audiences at home and abroad about the country's nuclear might. (AP Photo/RIA-Novosti, Dmitry Astakhov, Presidential Press Service) (AP/Dmitry Astakhov)

Russia conducts ballistic missile tests (AFP/Christ

Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev (L), Commander of Russia's Strategic Missile Forces Col.-Gen. Nikolai Solovtsov (C) and Defence Minister Anatoli Serdyukov visit cosmodrome Plesetsk, which is nestled among the taiga forests of Russia's north, October 12, 2008. Medvedev oversaw the test firing of an intercontinental truck-mounted Topol missile on Sunday and vowed to commission new generation weapons for Russia's armed forces. REUTERS/RIA Novosti/Kremlin/Dmitry Astakhov (RUSSIA)

Key facts on the Bulava ballistic missile, which Russia test-fired in September 2008. Russia test-fired three long-range missiles and pronounced its nuclear deterrent strong in a show of force that experts said had not been seen the days of the Cold War.(AFP Graphic)