On the evening of October 26, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin oversaw a scheduled training exercise by the Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces. Four intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and an unknown number of air-launched cruise missiles were fired during the exercise. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, nuclear submarines from the Pacific and Northern Fleets, as well as members of Russian Aerospace Forces participated in the exercise.

Russian Strategic Missile Forces fired an SS-25 Topol ICBM from a road-mobile transporter-erector-launcher (TEL) based in western Plesetek State Cosmodome toward the Kura range in Russia’s far east. One submarine from the Pacific fleet fired two unknown submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM), possibly SS-N-32 Bulavas, from the Okhotsk Sea to targets located at the Chizha range in the countries western Arkhangelsk region, a distance of approximately 5,900 km. Another submarine belonging to the Northern fleet fired a ballistic missile from the Barents Sea towards the Kura testing range in Kamchatka. Meanwhile, Russian Tu-160, Tu-95, and Tu-22M3 aircraft took off from the Ukrainka, Engels, and Shaikovka airfields, firing an unknown number of cruise missiles at ground targets in Kura, Pemboy (Komi) and Terekta (Kazakhstan).

Earlier this week on October 25, the Russian 949A Voronezh nuclear submarine also test fired an SS-N-19 antiship cruise missile (ASCM) from a submerged position in the northern Novaya Zemlya region.