Russian missile drills

Russian Missile Forces Holding Snap-Check Drills

RIA Novosti,

26 January, 2013

MOSCOW, July 23 (RIA Novosti) – The headquarters and two missile divisions of the Orenburg Missile Army in Russia’s Urals region have been put on high-alert as part of snap combat readiness drills, the Defense Ministry said.

The exercises that started early on Monday, involve the Tagil missile division in the Sverdlovsk region and the Yasnenskaya Missile Division in the Orenburg region.

“The goal of this snap check is to assess the ability of missile units to go on high-alert in required time and to evaluate their readiness to perform the designated tasks,” Col. Igor Yegorov, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry, said Monday.

The drills will continue until July 27 and will involve combat patrols and redeployment of missile units in designated field training areas, the official said.

According to open sources, the Tagil missile division is armed with Topol (SS-25 Sickle) intercontinental ballistic missiles, while the Yasnenskaya missile division operates RS-20V Voyevoda (SS-18 Satan) ballistic missile systems.

The Russian Armed Forces wrapped up on Sunday the largest snap check of combat readiness in the post-Soviet period, which involved some 160,000 servicemen, about 1,000 tanks and armored vehicles, 130 aircraft and 70 warships from the Far Easter and Central military districts.