The military has begun deploying S-400 mobile surface-to-air missiles in Kaliningrad, the Baltic exclave bordered by Poland and Lithuania, Izvestia reported.
Izvestia cited unidentified military officials as saying the missiles arrived Friday, but did not say how many.
The Defense Ministry declined to comment on the report.
S-400s, Russia's most advanced surface-to-air missiles, have a range of 120 to 400 kilometers. S-400s are already deployed around Moscow and are planned to be placed in the Pacific Far East this year. The Izvestia report comes amid rising tension between the United States and Russia over Washington's plans for a missile-shield system in Europe, which Russia contends threatens its own defenses.
In a sign of the sensitivity of the issue, state news agency RIA-Novosti late last week released a full version of an April 2 with U.S. Ambassador Michael McFaul, saying some of his remarks about missile defense had been "omitted" in the interview's initial publication.
"In the process of video editing, some important remarks by McFaul were omitted, resulting in a brief clip that did not reflect his full response on this topic," RIA-Novosti said on its website. "For the record, RIA-Novosti has published a more complete clip containing McFaul's full remarks."
(AP, MT)
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