MOSCOW, February 6. /TASS/. A Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket placed the Russian Defense Ministry’s satellites into the target obit, the ministry said.

At 9:59 p.m. Moscow time (6:59 p.m. GMT) on February 5, a combat crew of the Russian Aerospace Forces’ Space Troops successfully launched the Soyuz-2.1b medium-class carrier rocket with the Defense Ministry’s spacecraft from the Plesetsk spaceport in the Arkhangelsk Region.

"The launch of the carrier rocket and the insertion of spacecraft into the target orbit took place in the regular mode," the ministry said. The satellites have been taken under the control of ground-based facilities of the Russian Aerospace Forces, the ministry added.

Stable telemetry communication has been established and maintained with the spacecraft, while its onboard systems are functioning normally, Russia’s top brass specified.