MOSCOW – The Russian Defense Ministry has released footage of the testingof its latest interceptor missile which is designed to protect Moscow fromnuclear attacks.

In the footage released on Monday, the interceptor can be seen being firedfrom the Sary Shagan test range in Kazakhstan.

Dubbed the PRS-1M, the new missile is apparently designed to replace the53T6 short-range anti-ballistic missile, which is the main component of thecountry’s ABM shield that protects Moscow from a possible nuclear attack.

“A new modernized anti-missile [system] precisely hit the conditionaltarget. The preparation to the launch and the launch itself were conductedby the personnel of the anti-missile military unit and the command of theanti-missile and missile defense of the Russian Aerospace Forces incooperation with enterprises of the industry at the anti-ballistic missiletesting range,” said Colonel Andrey Prikhodko, the deputy commander ofAnti-Missile and Missile Defense Command of Russian Aerospace Forces.