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PUTIN'S ANNUAL PRESS CONFERENCE

Work on Sarmat ballistic missile nears completion — Putin

The system has been in the process of development since the 2000s to replace the R-36M2 Voyevoda ICBM

The RS-28 Sarmat Russian advanced silo-based system The press service of the Russian Defense Ministry/TASS

The RS-28 Sarmat Russian advanced silo-based system

© The press service of the Russian Defense Ministry/TASS

MOSCOW, December 17. /TASS/. Work on the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile goes on actively and is now nearing completion, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

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"Work on the Sarmat proceeds actively, and is now at the final stage. As for Poseidon [an unmanned underwater vehicle - TASS], work goes on well. Work on a missile with a nuclear global-distance system also proceeds as scheduled," he said at his annual news conference.

According to the president, work on other weapon systems that was announced in his state-of-the-nation address also proceeds as scheduled. "Some of them - the Kinzhal and the Peresvet laser weapon - have been put into service," he said.

The RS-28 Sarmat is a Russian advanced silo-based system with a heavy liquid-propellant intercontinental ballistic missile. It has been in the process of development since the 2000s to replace the R-36M2 Voyevoda ICBM. It weighs about 200 tonnes and has a throw weight of around 10 tonnes. The Sarmat is capable of breaching any existing and future missile defenses.

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Russia says it carried out 38 strikes with high-precision weapons over past week

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Robert Fico noted that Bratislava would be ready and hospitable

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Russia’s 2,000th R-7 rocket delivers Resurs-P remote sensing satellite into orbit

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Russia offers safe haven for people trying to escape Western liberal ideals

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Turkish transport ministry’s experts to join AZAL plane crash investigation

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Vladikavkaz, Grozny, Makhachkala airports resume operations — Russian aviation agency

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Bild said the German Foreign Ministry commissioned an internal government analysis on defense from ballistic missiles

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