Russia begins to replace Soviet-era missiles

Russia has begun to replace its aging Soviet-era front-line ballistic missiles.

The defence minister, Igor Sergeyev, attended a ceremony in the Saratov region north of Volgagrad to mark the deployment of the first two Topol-M strategic intercontinental missiles onto their silos.

The deployment will help Russia meet the provisions of the START II disarmament treaty signed with the United States, under which Moscow agreed to replace its multiple-warhead missiles with single-warheads.

Russia says the new missiles have a range of ten thousand kilometres 6,200 miles and are more accurate than their predecessors.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service