Russia on Monday said it would hold a military exercise that will include practice for the use of tactical nuclear weapons after what the defence ministry said were provocative threats from Western officials.
The defence ministry said the exercise was ordered by President Vladimir Putin and would test the readiness of non-strategic nuclear forces to perform combat missions.
The military drills will include practice for the preparation and deployment for use of non-strategic nuclear weapons, the defence ministry said. Missile formations in the Southern Military District and naval forces will take part.
“During the exercise, a set of measures will be carried out to practice the issues of preparation and use of non-strategic nuclear weapons,” the defence ministry said.
Russia has the world’s largest arsenal of nuclear weapons.
The exercise is aimed at ensuring Russia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty “in response to provocative statements and threats by certain Western officials against the Russian Federation”, the ministry said.
Putin’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine touched off the worst breakdown in relations between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, according to Russian and U.S. diplomats.
Russia casts the war as a battle with the West, which Putin says ignored Moscow’s attempt at friendship after the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union and sought to grab control of Ukraine while enlarging the NATO military alliance eastwards.
The West and Ukraine say they will not rest until Russian forces are defeated, and cast the war as an imperial-style land grab aimed at forcing the country back into Moscow’s orbit.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov cited comments by the French President Emmanuel Macron on possibly sending soldiers to Ukraine, as well as statements from the British and US Senate representatives.
Military and other special services are verifying reports about deployment of France’s foreign legion in Ukraine, Peskov added.
Associated Press have some more information on the planned drills. It says it was the first time that Russia has publicly announced drills involving tactical nuclear weapons, though its strategic nuclear forces regularly hold exercises.
What are tactical nuclear weapons
Tactical nuclear weapons include air bombs, warheads for short-range missiles and artillery munitions and are meant for use on a battlefield. They are less powerful than the massive warheads that arm intercontinental ballistic missiles and are intended to obliterate entire cities.
The Russian announcement appeared to be a warning to Ukraine’s western allies about becoming more deeply involved in the more than two-year war.
French President Emmanuel Macron repeated last week that he doesn’t exclude sending troops to Ukraine, and UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron said Kyiv’s forces will be able to use British long-range weapons to strike targets inside Russia.
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council that’s chaired by President Vladimir Putin, said in his typically hawkish fashion that the comments by Macron and Cameron risked pushing the nuclear-armed world toward a “global catastrophe.”
The Russian defence ministry said the exercise is intended to “increase the readiness of non-strategic nuclear forces to fulfil combat tasks” and will be held on Putin’s orders. The manoeuvres will involve missile units of the Southern Military District along with the air force and the navy, it said.
Russia’s plans to conduct tactical nuclear drills are nothing more than its continuing nuclear blackmail, Ukraine’s military spy agency spokesperson said on Monday.
“We do not see here anything new, except for the information effect and statements… Nuclear blackmail is a constant practice of Putin’s regime,” Andriy Yusov told national TV.
Photo: A Russian Iskander-M mobile short-range ballistic missile launcher in Alabino, Moscow region, Russia. EPA-EFE/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
