Russia Conducts Intercontinental Missile Test

Russia announced it has fired a test intercontinental ballistic missile on Tuesday.

The operation was deemed successful by the authorities, as the dummy warhead was launched from the Astrakhan region near the Caspian sea and hit its target in Kazakhstan, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported.

The move was aimed at testing "the advanced payload of the intercontinental ballistic missile", a top defense official was quoted as saying.

No connection has been stated between the conducted operation and the standoff in Ukraine's autonomous region of Crimea over the past week.

The Crimean peninsula, mostly populated by ethnic Russians, is under de facto control of Russian troops after tensions heightened and the ousting of Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych amid fears that the region could secede from Ukraine.

The US had already been notified of the missile test, which has been a routine since NATO started setting up a missile defense shield in Eastern Europe, not far from Russian territory.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly claimed these US-led NATO moves could pose a threat to his country's security.

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