Russia has deployed a group of Topol-M ICBMs roughly 150 miles northeast of Moscow, the Associated Press reported last month (see GSN, Dec. 23, 2008).
The weapons were put into operation Dec. 24 near the town of Teikovo, according to a Russian strategic missile forces statement. Russian news reports said the new missiles were placed on off-road vehicles at the Ivanovo region site.
Moscow did not specify the number of Topol-M missiles being deployed, but ITAR-Tass reported that the strategic missile forces were expected to have 65 of the weapons by the end of 2008.
Russia began commissioning Topol-M missiles in 1998. Officials have boasted that the weapon could break through any potential missile shield (see GSN, Dec. 19, 2008; Associated Press/USA Today, Dec. 24, 2008).