Russian nuclear submarine cruiser carried out a successful underwater launch of a ballistic missile

A strategic nuclear submarine cruiser of Russia's Northern Fleet, under the command of Captain Sergei Lastochkin, today carried out a successful underwater launch of a ballistic missile from the Barents Sea, reports Igor Dygalo, aide to the Russian Navy Chief of Staff. According to the aide, the missile's head part hit its target at the Kura firing range, near Kamchatka, as had been scheduled. The launch had been made within a strategic training program in the Russian armed forces, whose implementation began on February 13, and is being led by General Chief of Staff Anatoly Kvashnin, RIA Novosti announces. The success of the launch is yet another proof of the efficiency of the Russian Navy's tactical control system and the reliability of its strategic nuclear sea-borne forces, Dygalo pointed out.