Putin oversees missile drill from Moscow
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has overseen strategic missile drills, amid the ongoing tensions around Ukraine, watching a barrage of practice launches of several of Russia’s most advanced weapons, including hypersonic weapons and an intercontinental ballistic missile.
Russian state media showed Putin watching the volley of missile launches in a control center in Moscow, sitting alongside Belarus’ authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko, who is also hosting huge Russian military exercises in his country amid U.S. warnings the Kremlin may launch an attack on Kyiv.
The drills included launches of two hypersonic missiles, the Kinzhal from a fighter jet and a Zircon anti-ship missile from a warship.
A Yars ICBM was launched from Russia’s Kapustin Yar site and a Sineva ballistic missile fired from a submarine in the Barents Sea, Russia’s defense ministry said.
Russia’s military also released video showing the launches of a Kalibr cruise missile and an Islander ballistic missile.
Putin stages the demonstrative drills as tensions continued to escalate in eastern Ukraine, amid warnings from the US Russian preparing to invade the country within the coming days.
The Russian president has previously trumpeted the missiles as the most advanced in the world.
-ABC News' Patrick Reevell
