A road-mobile Topol-M missile complex tore up the streets of Moscow Monday night, completing a 100-kilometer journey from the town of Serpukhov, south of Moscow, before arriving in the capital.
Bystanders and media managed to get a first-hand glimpse of the mobile strategic missile system, which was headed to the All-Russian Exhibition Center in northern Moscow. The vehicle is set to take part in an outdoor public exhibition of Soviet and Russian weaponry in honor of the 70th Anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.
Organizers of the exhibition are planning to place the vehicle alongside the Soviet space shuttle, the Buran. In addition to the Topol-M, the exhibition will include the Buk, Tor and OSA-AKM surface-to-air missile systems, as well as the Shilka and Tunguska self-propelled anti-aircraft gun systems, an Su-27 fighter and an Mi8T helicopter, among others.
“At night the Topol missile system drove through Moscow.”
The missile complex left its base at a section of the Peter the Great Military Academy of the Strategic Missile Forces on Monday evening.
Commenting on the planned exhibition, the Ministry of Defense told Russian media that it would “immortalize the memory of the creators of the nuclear deterrent, symbolizing the contribution of the Strategic Missile Forces to the defense and security of the country, and paying tribute to the selfless work of generations of missile workers.”
According to Russian media, Russian President Vladimir Putin personally approved the order that the missile system be put on display at the exhibition center.