Russia Starts Exercises On Tactical Nuclear Weapons Use

The exercises are carried out on behalf of Putin.

In the Southern Military District, under the leadership of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, the first stage of exercises on the use of non-strategic nuclear weapons began, the press service of the Russian Ministry of Defense reported.

At the first stage, the supply of nuclear ammunition for the Iskander complexes and equipping aviation with missiles with nuclear warheads, including specially assembled Kinzhal missiles, are being tested.

The personnel of the missile formations of the Southern Military District are practicing receiving special ammunition, loading it into Iskanders and moving to the position area to prepare for launches. The personnel of the Aerospace Forces units are practicing equipping aircraft weapons with special combat units and flying into designated patrol areas.

The exercises are carried out on behalf of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. They were announced on May 6, but the exact start date of the exercises was not announced. It was stated that the purpose of the exercises was practical testing of issues related to the preparation and use of non-strategic nuclear weapons.

Putin voiced the latest series of nuclear threats in his address to the Federal Assembly in February 2024. Commenting on the words of French President Emmanuel Macron about the possible dispatch of Western troops to Ukraine, Putin said that “tragic consequences” will await “possible interventionists.” This development of events “threatens a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons, and therefore the destruction of civilization,” Putin said.

The United States was seriously preparing for a possible Russian nuclear strike on Ukraine at the end of 2022, CNN previously reported, citing two senior officials of the Joe Biden administration. According to them, the nuclear scenario for the Ukrainian conflict was considered as real after a series of defeats by the Russian army, which by that time had surrendered the Kharkiv region and was forced to leave Kherson. The assessment was made on the basis of “extremely sensitive data” received by US intelligence, CNN sources say: the possibility was considered that Vladimir Putin was using tactical nuclear weapons.

According to CNN sources, the involvement of China and India, which, in turn, put pressure on Putin, helped prevent the conflict from entering the nuclear phase.