Russia has reaffirmed its nuclear weapons might by transporting a devastating intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) just hours after Donald Trump‘s stunning presidential election win.
According to Moscow, specialists spent “several hours” loading a Yars ICBM into a silo in the Kozelsk missile base in Kaluga, which is 120 miles south-west of the capital.
The Russians have previously loaded the same type of missile into the Kozelsk base in December 2023 and in late 2022, the Kremlin claims.
The move may be a signal to Trump about Russia‘s military capabilities, as the Yars missile has a range of 7,500 miles, meaning the USA is within reach.
Despite the show of strength, it had been widely thought that Putin would favour a Trump presidency, over a Kamala Harris administration.
When the 45th president was in the Oval Office, he and Putin met on several occasions, and the pair appeared to have cordial relations.
However, following the business mogul’s electoral success, Moscow was far from congratulatory.
Not only has the Russian president not sent an official communication to Trump following the win, the Kremlin has justified the snub on the basis that the United States has been “unfriendly”.
On Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he was “not aware of the president’s plans to congratulate Trump on the election.”
“Let’s not forget that we are talking about an unfriendly country that is both directly and indirectly involved in the war against our state”, he added.
Nevertheless, Trump’s triumph has got many in NATO concerned that his presidency may see Ukraine have to accept concessions from Russia in return for an end to the war.
The president elect has said he determined to do a “deal” over the conflict.