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| President Vladimir Putin Monitors Russian Nuclear Forces Exercise |
Moscow - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday (26/10/2022) monitored the country's strategic nuclear force drills which involved several ballistic and cruise missile launch drills. This is a show of strength amid rising tensions with the West over the conflict in Ukraine.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to Putin that the drills were meant to simulate a "massive nuclear strike" by Russia in retaliation for a nuclear strike on Russia. “In accordance with the training schedule of the Russian Armed Forces, an exercise was held to train the command and control of the Armed Forces, including the task of carrying out large-scale nuclear strikes by strategic nuclear powers in retaliation for enemy nuclear attacks,” Shoigu said in a report to President Vladimir Putin, as quoted from TASS.
As part of the training, Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles were launched from the Plesetsk cosmodrome and Sineva ballistic missiles from the Barents Sea at the Kura test site in Kamchatka. Two long-range Tu-95MS aircraft were involved in the exercise. Both fired cruise missiles.
According to the Kremlin website, all tasks were completed in full and all missiles hit their targets, confirming the expected characteristics. Read: Ukrainian general says world should be worried about Putin's nuclear weapons The maneuver follows Putin's warnings about his readiness to use "all available means" to fend off attacks on Russian soil in a clear reference to the country's nuclear arsenal.
During Wednesday's drills, a Yars land-based intercontinental ballistic missile was tested from the northern Plesetsk launch site. A Russian nuclear submarine in the Barents Sea launches the Sineva ICBM at the Kura firing range in the far east of the Kamchatka Peninsula.
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| Russian Tupolev Tu-95 Bomber |
As part of the drills, Tu-95 strategic bombers also launched cruise missiles at practice targets. The Kremlin said in a statement that all the tasks set for the exercise had been fulfilled and all the missiles fired hit their designated targets.
The Joe Biden administration said on Tuesday that Russia gave notice that it intends to carry out routine exercises of its nuclear capabilities. The Pentagon and the US State Department said Russia had complied with the terms of the latest US-Russian arms control treaty in notifying Washington of the upcoming test.