Russia launches Soyuz-2.1b rocket carrying military spacecraft

MOSCOW, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Russia's Aerospace Forces launched a Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome on Friday, carrying spacecraft belonging to the defense ministry, state space corporation Roscosmos said on Friday.

"After launch, the Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket was taken over for tracking by the ground-based measurement complex of the cosmodrome. The launch proceeded in normal mode," Roscosmos said on Telegram.

Since the beginning of this year, three launches of satellites for Russia's defense ministry have already been carried out from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome.

During a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, Roscosmos head Dmitry Bakanov revealed that Ukrainian drones have been attempting to attack the cosmodrome during the launches of broadband Internet satellites. Enditem