MOSCOW 

The Russian Defense Ministry announced on Thursday that it had conducted training launches during exercises of non-strategic nuclear forces.

"In the second stage of the non-strategic nuclear forces exercises, personnel from the missile compound of the Leningrad Military District executed combat training tasks, including covertly advancing to designated positional areas and performing electronic missile launches against simulated opponent targets," the ministry said.

Additionally, naval forces conducted patrol missions in designated areas during sea exercises.

The servicemen also practiced tasks involving the acquisition of special training ammunition for equipping both sea- and land-based launch vehicles.

On Tuesday, Russian and Belarusian forces started the second stage of joint non-strategic nuclear exercises focused on training the use of non-strategic nuclear weapons in combat scenarios.