Russian soldiers are training to load “special munitions” into Iskander missile batteries, but also to move them “in a concealed manner” to firing zones, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
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The Russian army announced on Tuesday, May 21, that it had begun military exercises near Ukraine on the use of tactical nuclear weapons, ordered at the beginning of May by President Vladimir Putin, assuring that these were a response to “threat” Western. “The first stage of exercises (…) on the preparation and use of non-strategic nuclear weapons has begun”the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
He affirmed that these maneuvers are taking place in the Southern Military District, based near Ukraine and which covers Ukrainian regions whose annexation Moscow claims. According to the ministry, during this stage, Russian soldiers train to load “special ammunition” in the Iskander missile batteries, but also to move them “in a concealed manner” on shooting zones. These exercises also involve aviation and Kinjal hypersonic missiles, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
“The current exercise aims to maintain the readiness of personnel and equipment (…) for the use of non-strategic nuclear weapons to respond and ensure the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Russian state in response ( …) to threats from certain Western officials”, the ministry said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered these nuclear exercises to be held in early May, in response, according to the Kremlin, to Western threats, notably the possibility raised by French President Emmanuel Macron of sending troops to Ukraine.
Since the start of the conflict in Ukraine in February 2022, the Russian president has been blowing hot and cold on the possible use of nuclear weapons. Russia deployed tactical nuclear weapons in the summer of 2023 in Belarus, its closest ally, which also announced in May a synchronized exercise with Moscow to check its tactical nuclear weapons launchers. Russian nuclear doctrine provides for recourse “strictly defensive” with atomic weapons, in the event of an attack on Russia with weapons of mass destruction or in the event of aggression with conventional weapons “threatening the very existence of the State”.
