Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a strategic nuclear training exercise, saying that Russia would avoid an arms race but must keep its nuclear forces ready for deployment. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the drill was a planned, routine event. As part of the drill, a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northwest Russia. Additional missile tests involved Sineva and Bulava ballistic missiles launched from submarines in the Bar