Topol-M missile regiment to be put on combat duty

MOSCOW, December 19 (RIA Novosti) - A ceremony to put Russia's fifth missile regiment armed with silo-based intercontinental Topol-M missiles on combat duty will take place in the Saratov region in south European Russia December 24, the Strategic Missile Forces' press service said Monday.

The ceremony will be attended by First Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Belousov, Colonel General Nikolai Solovtsov who commands the Strategic Missile Forces, and senior officials. The deployment will be part of the modernization plan for the missile forces.

Solovtsov had said previously that Russia would test-launch from five to eight strategic missiles in 2006, but disband several units in the Urals and Siberia.

In 2005, Russia disbanded two missile divisions, but formed more than 20 new units, in accordance with the modernization plan for the missile forces, Solovtov said.