Russia's Medvedev test fires long-range missile

 

A Reuters reporter said the truck-mounted Topol was fired at 3:23 a.m. EDT in drizzling rain from the Plesetsk cosmodrome, which is nestled among the taiga forests of Russia's north.

Half an hour later it hit the Kura testing site, 6000 km (3700 miles) away on the Kamchatka peninsula in the Pacific.

"I have just been told that the dummy warhead has landed in Kura," Medvedev said from the Topol launch pad where acrid smoke from the missile still hung thick in the air.

"We will continue to commission new types of weapons but we will also continue testing the ones we have now," said Medvedev. "Their effectiveness has been proved by time. Our shield is fine."

Russian nuclear submarines also successfully test fired two ballistic missiles from the Pacific Ocean and Barents Sea on Sunday to targets inside Russia, the navy said.

Medvedev, who was sworn in as president in May, has moved to beef up Russia's armed forces after a five-day conflict in Georgia this August which sparked a row with the United States and European Union.

Dressed in the army's new-style leather jacket -- with a badge saying commander-in-chief -- Medvedev inspected the 21.5 meter Topol rocket before the launch