The defence ministry announced on Wednesday that Russia had started the third phase of its tactical nuclear weapons deployment drills. The defence ministry said on Telegram’s messaging app that “the third stage of the exercise of non-strategic nuclear forces has begun by the decision of the president of the Russian Federation.”
According to the defence ministry, soldiers from the Southern and Central military districts will receive training on secretly transporting dummy warheads to launch sites for Iskander-M operational and tactical missile systems. “The current stage of the exercise is aimed at maintaining the readiness of personnel and equipment of units of combat use of non-strategic nuclear weapons of Russia to perform combat missions,” said the ministry.
The exercises began in May with Russia hosting the first phase, and in June, Belarus, an ally, joined the second phase. Russia claims that by arming Ukraine with weapons worth billions of dollars, some of which are being used against Russian territory, the US and its allies in Europe are bringing the world dangerously close to a nuclear conflict.
President Vladimir Putin has stated repeatedly that Russia could use nuclear weapons to defend itself in dire circumstances since deploying thousands of troops into Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The West has dismissed these remarks as mere sabre-rattling.
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