MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian MiG-31K aircraft test-fired the high-speed Kingal missile in Russia's Arctic earlier this month, TASS news agency reported Saturday, citing military sources.
The CIA report came a day after a Danish intelligence service warned of mounting geopolitical rivalry in the Arctic and said the Chinese military was increasingly using scientific research in the Arctic as a way to enter the region.
"The tests were conducted in mid-November," Tass quoted one source as saying.
She said the MiG-31K fighter took off from the Olenyegorsk air base in the Murmansk region of northern Russia and fired the missile at a target on the ground at the Pemboi training site in Russia's Arctic Komi region, without elaborating.
The Danish Defense Intelligence Service said in an annual risk assessment report on Friday that "a strong conflict is forming" between Russia, the United States and China, adding to tensions in the Arctic.
Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled the Kingal in March 2018 along with other missile systems that he proudly said were invincible, saying it could escape any hostile defense systems.
Russian media have said that Kingal could hit targets some 2,000 km away with nuclear or conventional warheads and that the missiles had already been deployed in Russia's southern military zone.