 "Russia holds military drills with tactical nuclear weapons near Ukraine border")
In territories bordering Ukraine, Russia has started the first round of tactical nuclear weapons training using Iskander and Kinzhal missiles.
The exercises are being held in Russia’s Southern Military District, which borders and encompasses areas of Ukraine that Moscow has unlawfully seized and occupied since its full-scale invasion started in February 2022, according to a statement released by the Russian Ministry of Defense on Tuesday.
The precise site of the drills was not disclosed by the ministry.
It is also anticipated that Belarus, where Russia claimed last year to be putting tactical nuclear weapons, will participate.
Since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Moscow has repeatedly talked up its arsenal of nuclear weapons and its readiness to deploy them in the face of a security threat.
According to nuclear experts, Vladimir Putin is using the drills as a warning to Ukraine’s Western friends, who have given Kyiv arms and intelligence, to keep them from getting more involved in the conflict.
In response to provocative statements and threats made by individual Western officials against the Russian Federation, the ministry stated that the exercises are intended to make sure that units and equipment are prepared for “the combat use of non-strategic nuclear weapons to respond and unconditionally ensure the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Russian state.”
Following suggestions from Western officials that they could be willing to take their backing of Ukraine a step further, Putin ordered the drills.
David Cameron, the foreign minister of the United Kingdom, stated that Kyiv had the right to launch Western missiles onto Russian territory earlier this month, while French President Emmanuel Macron stated he had not ruled out sending troops to Ukraine under certain circumstances.
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View AllRussia’s Southern Military District, which has its headquarters at Rostov-on-Don, 60 kilometers (40 miles) from the Ukrainian border, serves as the command center for its offensive against that country.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence released video footage of soldiers at an airbase preparing a bomber to carry a nuclear payload, and trucks transporting missiles to a field where launch systems were ready.
According to the report, the exercises included driving to approved launch sites, loading launch vehicles, and loading planes with hypersonic Kinzhal missiles.
Nuclear weapons with a great deal of destructive power that are intended for use in combat are referred to be non-strategic or tactical weapons.
Although exact numbers are unknown, the Federation of American Scientists estimates that Russia possesses roughly 1,558 non-strategic nuclear bombs.
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