Russia ramps up missile tests amidst Ukraine conflict shadows
From the Kapustin Yar cosmodrome and military rocket range in the northwestern part of the Astrakhan region in Russia, an intercontinental ballistic missile was launched, announced the Russian Ministry of National Defense. Previously, residents of several Russian regions observed disturbing trails in the sky.
Many reports by Russian media or representatives of authorities are elements of propaganda. Such reports are part of the informational war conducted by the Russian Federation.
The Ministry of Defense announced that the Russian military conducted tests of launching an intercontinental ballistic missile from the Kapustin Yar range.
Intercontinental missile test
The ministry claims that "On April 12, 2024, a combat crew of the Strategic Missile Forces successfully launched an intercontinental ballistic missile of a mobile ground-launched missile system from the 4th State Central Interspecies Test Site Kapustin Yar in Astrakhan Oblast."
As stated, the launch was part of "state missile system tests." Furthermore, the goal was to confirm "high reliability of Russian missiles to ensure strategic security"
Earlier, residents of the Astrakhan and Volgograd regions sent recordings to local media depicting disturbing trails in the sky of an "unidentified object".
Trails in the sky were also visible from Sinjar in northwest Iraq, near the border with Syria, and from Iran and Armenia.
Baza reports that a year ago, tests of an intercontinental ballistic missile were also conducted from the Kapustin Yar range in the northeast of the Astrakhan region. The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that the "missile's warhead hit the target in Kazakhstan with high precision."
From 2023, Russia plans to increase the number of test launches of its intercontinental ballistic missiles from four to eight per year, Reuters reported in December 2022, citing the commander of the Russian strategic missile forces, Sergei Karakayev. The military then announced that the tests would be conducted near Murmansk in the north of the country and in the vicinity of Volgograd in the south, namely at the Kapustin Yar range.
