Russia Claims Successful Launch of Nuclear-Capable Intercontinental Ballistic Missile

Russia has announced that it launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in its latest combat training exercise held on Friday (28/8) local time. The ICBM launched by Moscow was described as having “nuclear capability”.

The Russian Ministry of Defence, as reported by Anadolu Agency on Saturday (29/8/2026), said it had “successfully” carried out a combat training launch of a mobile, solid-fuel ICBM from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in the Arkhangelsk region, north-western Russia.

The ICBM launched in the combat training exercise on Friday (28/8), according to the Russian Ministry of Defence, was “nuclear-capable”.

According to the Russian Ministry of Defence, the ICBM was able to reach a target in a designated area at the Kura combat training range in the Kamchatka region, in the Russian Far East.

“The Strategic Missile Forces practised procedures for relocating a mobile intercontinental ballistic missile launcher battery to a remote location, preparing and carrying out the launch,” the Russian Ministry of Defence said in its statement.

It was also stated that the purpose of the combat training launch was to confirm the “tactical, technical and flight characteristics of the missile system”.

The Russian Ministry of Defence did not name the missile used in the exercise.

Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces are responsible for the country’s land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles and are a key component of its nuclear deterrent capability.

In May, the Russian Ministry of Defence announced that it had launched a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome towards the Kura training range in a nuclear exercise that also involved their neighbouring country, Belarus.