Russia's missile launch 'fails'
Mr Putin had been due to watch the launch from this submarine
A test launch of two ballistic missiles, planned as part of a military exercise attended by the Russian president, has failed, reports said.
Interfax and Itar-Tass quoted a Northern Fleet official as saying the missiles were unable to take off from a nuclear submarine in the Barents Sea.
It comes weeks before the presidential election, in which Vladimir Putin is widely expected to win a second term.
The reports of the missile failure could not immediately be confirmed.
Russian news agencies, quoting the unnamed navy officer, said a signal from a military satellite had blocked the launch. No further explanation was given.
The missiles had been due to take off from a nuclear submarine, the Novomosskovsk, with Mr Putin watching from another submarine, the Arkhangelsk.
The president's arrival at Severomorsk naval base, on Russia's Arctic coast, had received wide television coverage in Russia.
The planned manoeuvres had been described in the Russian media as the largest show of military might since Soviet times. Ten ships and six nuclear submarines had been due to take part. In August 2000, just months into Mr Putin's term as president, a nuclear submarine, the Kursk, sank in the Barents Sea, killing 118 sailors.
This sounds as if they were actually testing the satellite, instead of the missles. If so, it worked.