Vladimir Putin personally oversaw the test launching of ballistic missiles on Thursday. Photo: Shutterstock.Vladimir Putin personally oversaw the test launching of ballistic missiles on Thursday. Photo: Shutterstock.

President Vladimir Putin has personally overseen the launch of four nuclear-capable ballistic missiles as part of a training exercise for Russia's strategic nuclear forces, the Kremlin said on Friday, the Interfax news agency reported.

The test launches, conducted on Thursday, involved land, air, and submarine-based ballistic missiles, Russia's defence ministry said in a separate statement.

The ministry said a Topol intercontinental ballistic missile had been test fired from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in northern Russia, hitting a target at the Kura military testing range on the Kamchatka Peninsula thousands of kilometres (miles) away.

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