Russia loads new intercontinental ballistic missile into silo south of Moscow

Russian rocket forces have loaded a new Yars intercontinental ballistic missile into a silo at the Kozelsk base in the Kaluga region, southwest of Moscow, the defence ministry said on Sunday (December 17). The 23-meter long RS-24 (Yars) missile is designed to carry multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles (MIRVs), which allow the missile to deliver multiple nuclear warheads at different targets. “In the Kozelsky compound, Strategic Missile Forces loaded a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile into a silo launcher,“ the defense ministry said. The defense ministry released a clip of the giant missile being transported to a silo and loaded into a shaft. It accompanied the video with pounding rock music. Russia has the world's largest arsenal of nuclear weapons, closely followed by the United States. Together, Russia and the United States control more than 90% of the world's nuclear weapons. Russia has about 5,889 nuclear warheads while the United