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Defence Ministry rules out leaks of nuclear weapons from Russia
RIA Novosti

Moscow, 17 June: The Russian Defence Ministry completely rules out the possibility of leaks of nuclear weapons from Russia.

"There could be no leaks of nuclear weapons or their components from Russia," - this is how the press service of the ministry commented to RIA Novosti on the statement by the American commission investigating [9 September] terrorist acts in New York and Washington.

The document, distributed on Wednesday [16 June] at the final, 12th session of the commission, says that the terrorists of Al-Qa'idah were working on the idea of seizing a missile with nuclear warhead and launching a strike at the territory of the United States. According to the commission, the terrorists were considering various ideas, including, for example "how to seize a launch installation and to force Russian scientists to strike US territory with a nuclear missile".

"The leadership of the Russian Defence Ministry and the General Staff of the armed forces have repeated more than once that all nuclear weapons, their constituent parts and components are under the strictest control and are meticulously accounted for," the press service of the Russian Defence Ministry stressed.

Therefore there cannot be any leaks, let alone sales of nuclear weapons or their components from Russia, assurances were given in the Russian Defence Ministry. "This is absolutely ruled out and this has been said on several occasions by Defence Minister Sergey Ivanov himself, the first deputy chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Yuriy Baluyevskiy, and other specialists," the press service stressed.