NAVY FIRES MISSILE TO DESTROY IT.

The Russian Navy employed an inexpensive means to get rid of one of its excess SS-N-20 submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) on October 23 by firing it from a Northern Fleet Typhoon strategic submarine in the Arctic. The missile was programmed to self-destruct when it reached an altitude of more than 3,000 meters. A Foreign Ministry spokesman said preliminary reports confirmed that the operation was "ecologically clean." (Itar-Tass, October 24)

Smoke-Filled Kremlin Room.