Russia begins nuclear drills in apparent warning to West over Ukraine

The Russian military on Tuesday began exercises involving tactical nuclear weapons, announced by Russian authorities earlier this month in an apparent warning to the Russian military. senior Western officials who had spoken of the possibility of deeper involvement in the war in Ukraine.

It was the first time that Russia publicly announced exercises involving tactical nuclear weaponseven if its strategic nuclear forces regularly organize exercises.

According to a Defense Ministry statement released Tuesday, the first stage of the new exercises included “hands-on training in the preparation and use of non-strategic nuclear weapons,” including the nuclear-capable Kinzhal and Iskander missiles.

The maneuvers are taking place in the Southern Military District, which includes the southern Russian regions, particularly on the border with Ukraine; Crimea, illegally annexed to Ukraine in 2014; and four Ukrainian regions that Russia illegally annexed in 2022 and partially occupies.

The exercises were announced on May 6, with the Defense Ministry saying in a statement that they would come in response to “provocative statements and threats by some Western officials against the Russian Federation.”

Tactical nuclear weapons include aerial bombs, short-range missile warheads, and artillery munitions and are intended for use on a battlefield. They are less powerful than strategic weapons – massive warheads that arm intercontinental ballistic missiles and are intended to wipe out entire cities.

The announcement comes after French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated that he was not ruling out sending troops to Ukraine, and British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said kyiv’s forces would be able to ‘use long-range British weapons to strike targets in Russia. The Kremlin called the comments dangerous and an exacerbation of tensions between Russia and NATO.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on May 6 that Macron’s statement and other remarks by British and American officials had motivated the nuclear exercises, calling the remarks “a new wave of escalation.”