Russia launches a 'advanced' ICBM for testing

Russia has conducted a successful test launch of an "advanced" intercontinental ballistic missile, weeks after it suspended participation in its last remaining nuclear arms control pact with the United States. The Russian defence ministry said in a statement that a "combat crew successfully launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) of a mobile ground-based missile system" from its Kapustin Yar test site on Tuesday. The missile's training warhead hit a mock target at the Sary-Shagan training ground (Republic of Kazakhstan) with given precision. President Vladimir Putin has issued thinly veiled warnings that he could use nuclear weapons there if Russia were threatened. The Russian defence ministry did not specify the type of missile used in Tuesday's launch, but it said the exercise's purpose was to test advanced combat equipment of intercontinental ballistic missiles. In February, Putin said a new kind of ICBM would be deployed sometime this year, the Sarmat, which is capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads and is among Russia's next-generation missiles that Putin has described as "invincible".