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| Russian President Vladimir Putin sits inside the Tupolev-160 strategic bomber1 jet at the Moscow's Chkalovsky military airport (AFP) |
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President Vladimir Putin donned navy uniform to watch a missile launch at sea yesterday, hours after dressing2 as a pilot and flying in a supersonic bomber.
"I think a man in my position must know how it all happens," the president said after a five-hour flight on a giant TU160 strategic bomber to test-fire a cruise missile over northern Russia.
Then, Putin, flanked by Defense3 Minister Sergei Ivanov, stood on board of the Pyotr Veliky cruiser to watch the Sineva missile blast out of the water and vanish into the gray sky after being launched by the submerged nuclear submarine Yekaterinburg near the Kola Peninsula.
It hit a target 5,000 miles away in Russia's far east, helping4 to offset5 the failed missile launches when he attended his country's largest naval6 exercises in two decades last year.
The former KGB spy is a regular guest at lavish7 demonstrations8 of his country's military might. As well as a missile launch, yesterday's flight involved mid-air refuelling and a low-level pass just 200 yards above the sea's surface at 560mph.
Putin said he was pleased with the result of the exercise, in which a group of Northern Fleet ships and submarines were to prevent another group from deploying9 into the open sea and simulating the launch of nuclear missiles.
"Everyone probably remembers the failed launch last year," Putin said at a news conference on the Pyotr Veliky. "Now, all of the shortcomings have been corrected."
After leaving an Arctic air base to join this week's war games , Mr Putin, 52, played down his simulated bombing raid.
"I think that's how people feel when they fly in their dreams at night," he said of the experience.
His visibility at exercises featuring nuclear test launches underscores his commitment to modernizing10 Russia's strategic forces.
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昨天（8月17日），俄罗斯总统普京先客串了一把“飞行员”，乘坐超音速轰炸机发射导弹。结束飞行几小时后，他又穿上一身海军制服在海上观看导弹发射。
普京乘坐庞大的图-160战略轰炸机在俄罗斯北部地区试射了一枚巡航导弹，整个飞行过程历时5小时。之后，普京说：“我想，作为俄罗斯总统，我必须了解整个过程。”
在俄罗斯国防部长谢尔盖· 伊万诺夫的护卫下，普京接着登上了“彼得大帝”号巡洋舰，观看位于科拉半岛附近的俄罗斯叶卡捷琳堡核潜艇发射导弹，导弹冲出水面，消失在灰色的天空中。
导弹射中了一个远在5000英里以外的、位于俄罗斯远东地区的目标，弥补了去年普京在参加俄罗斯二十年来最大规模的一次军事演习时，导弹没有射中目标的遗憾。
这位曾经在前苏联时期为克格勃效力的现任总统是俄罗斯大规模军事演习的常客。除了导弹发射，昨天普京总统还参加了空中加油、超低空飞行等军事演习，飞机曾经以560英里每小时的速度在高出海平面仅200米的地方飞过。
普京说他对这次演习的结果很满意。在这次演习中，由俄罗斯北方舰队水面舰艇和潜艇组成的一个编队成功地阻止了部署在公海的另一个编队模拟发射核弹。
“也许大家都还记得去年我们曾发射失败过。现在，所有的不足都已经得到了弥补。”普京在“彼得大帝”号巡洋舰上举行的新闻发布会上说。
参加本周进行的军事演习前，普京总统曾经在位于北极圈内的空军基地过夜。飞离基地后，现年52岁的普京总统让自己的这次模拟导弹袭击尽量低调。
“我想这次飞行就像大家晚上在梦中飞行的感觉一样。”
从普京亲自视察以核弹试验发射为主的军事演习可以看出他对实现俄罗斯战略力量现代化的重视。
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