Six launch silos at a site near the city of Cheliabinsk are to be destroyed by the end of 2004, along with an undisclosed number of missiles, the agency said. They say that Russia currently possesses 144 such silos.

Since the Srategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-1) came into effect in 1994, Russia has destroyed around 850 missiles, reducing its nuclear arsenal to 1,136 missiles and 5,518 warheads.

The treaty, signed with the US in 1991, limits the country's number of missiles to 1,600, with just over 6,000 warheads permitted.

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