Russia on Tuesday conducted a large-scale nuclear forces exercise, simulating a retaliatory strike using missiles launched from ground, sea, and air platforms. President Vladimir Putin monitored the exercise via video link, which involved test-firing a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in northwest Russia, as well as missiles from submarines in the Barents Sea and Sea of Okhotsk. Strategic bombers also launched long-range cruise missiles, all reportedly hitting their targets, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
Putin described the drill as a response to “growing geopolitical tensions,” emphasizing that Russia will maintain a capable nuclear defense but reiterated that nuclear use would only be considered under “extremely exceptional” circumstances. The exercise practiced a hypothetical massive nuclear response to an initial enemy strike, as Defense Minister Andrei Belousov explained to Putin during the drill.
Putin orders military to start nuclear weapons drills. 🚨‼️
pic.twitter.com/HDTYk5aFPb— DramaAlert (@DramaAlert) October 29, 2024
The exercise comes amid recent updates to Russia’s nuclear doctrine, which now considers any conventional attack on Russia, if backed by a nuclear-capable country, as grounds for a potential nuclear response. This doctrine change has been widely interpreted as a warning to NATO and Western allies supporting Ukraine.
These drills follow several similar exercises this month, including a test in the Tver region. Russia has also recently deployed tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, increasing its nuclear presence alongside its allies. The exercise marks another signal from Moscow of its readiness to respond to perceived threats while reinforcing its focus on nuclear deterrence as the conflict in Ukraine continues.
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