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Russia announced on Monday that it will hold military exercises that will include training in the use of tactical nuclear weapons. The Defense Ministry said the exercise was ordered by President Vladimir Putin and would test the readiness of nuclear forces to carry out combat missions.
The military exercise will include training in preparation and deployment for the use of non-strategic nuclear weapons, Reuters reported, citing the ministry. Missile units of the Southern Military District and naval forces will take part in them.
The AP reports that this is the first time Russia has publicly announced exercises involving tactical nuclear weapons, although its strategic nuclear forces regularly hold exercises.
Tactical nuclear weapons include aerial bombs, short-range missile warheads and artillery munitions and are intended for use on the battlefield. They are less powerful than the massive warheads armed with intercontinental ballistic missiles, which are designed to destroy entire cities.
The Russian Federation put itself in the position of being forced into the planned nuclear exercises. “The exercise is aimed at ensuring Russia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty in response to provocative statements and threats by some Western officials against the Russian Federation,” the Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday.
What are tactical nuclear weapons?
The US military was the first to “like” non-strategic nuclear weapons. In recent years, however, Russia has attached more and more importance to them.
Although it did not mention the specific names of these representatives, Moscow repeatedly referred to French President Emmanuel Macron’s statements about possible French intervention in Ukraine as “extremely dangerous”.
Russia says the United States and its European allies are pushing the world to the brink of confrontation between nuclear powers by supporting Ukraine with tens of billions of dollars worth of weapons in its fight against Russian invasion forces. Nuclear powers routinely test their nuclear weapons, but rarely publicly link these exercises to specific perceived threats.
The other side of the conflict in Eastern Europe has already reacted to the announcement of the largest country in the world. “Russia’s plans to conduct tactical nuclear exercises are nothing more than its continued nuclear blackmail,” Ukrainian military intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov said Monday, according to British newspaper The Guardian. “We see nothing new here, except for the information effect and the statement. Nuclear blackmail is a constant practice of the Putin regime,” Yusov added to national television.
In today’s statement by the Russian Ministry of Defense, there is no mention of the fact that there should be exercises with missiles equipped with nuclear warheads, and it is not even clear where and when the maneuvers will take place, DPA noted. The newly announced exercise should take place with the participation of missile troops, the air force, the navy and soldiers from the Southern Military District, that is, especially the forces stationed near Ukraine, the AFP agency writes.
In February of this year, the Financial Times, citing leaked documents, mapped Russia’s plans to use nuclear weapons. Russian doctrine, according to the findings, ranges “from an enemy incursion into Russian territory to very specific triggers, such as the destruction of 20 percent of Russia’s strategic ballistic missile submarines.”
What role do nuclear weapons play in Russian military doctrine?
The role of nuclear weapons in Russian military doctrine in the words of analyst Michal Smetana from FSV UK:
Nuclear weapons have a potentially very important role in the broader military doctrine of the Russian Federation. Within the concept of so-called “strategic deterrence”.
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We have updated on the statement of the Ministry of Defense.
Tags: Moscow planning nuclear weapons drills West provoked claim
