Russia plans to conduct training to simulate the use of tactical nuclear weapons, the Defense Ministry announced on Monday, days after the Kremlin. reacted angrily In response to comments by Western officials about war In Ukraine.
The defense ministry said in a statement that the drill was in response to “provocative statements and threats made by certain Western officials regarding the Russian Federation.”
Russia's strategic nuclear forces regularly conduct exercises, but this is the first time Russia has publicly announced an exercise involving tactical nuclear weapons. Tactical nuclear weapons are less powerful than the massive warheads carried by intercontinental ballistic missiles intended to destroy entire cities.
The announcement is seen as a warning to Ukraine's Western allies that they will become more involved in the more than two-year-old war. Some of Ukraine's Western partners have previously expressed concern about provoking war, amid fears it could spill beyond Ukraine into the conflict between NATO and Russia.
French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated last week that he was not ruling out sending troops to Ukraine, and British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said Kiev forces could use British long-range weapons to attack targets inside Russia. said.
The Kremlin condemned the comments as dangerous and increasing tensions between Russia and NATO. The war has already put a huge strain on Moscow's relations with the West.
This is not the first time that European military aid to Ukraine has angered Russian authorities and triggered the rattling of nuclear sabers. In March last year, after the British government decided to supply Ukraine with armor-piercing munitions containing depleted uranium, President Putin announced: deploy tactical nuclear weapons In the territory of Belarus.
Tactical nuclear weapons include aerial bombs, short-range missile warheads, and artillery shells and are intended for use on the battlefield.
The ministry said the exercise was aimed at “increasing the readiness of non-strategic nuclear forces to carry out combat missions” and was carried out on the orders of President Vladimir Putin. In addition to the Air Force and Navy, missile units from the Southern Military District are also expected to participate in the exercise.
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone struck two vehicles in Russia's Belgorod region on Monday, killing six people and injuring 35 others, including two children, local authorities said. The area has been the subject of frequent attacks by Kiev's military in recent months.
Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said one of the vehicles was a minibus carrying farm workers.
Other details were not immediately available and the reports from the border region could not be independently confirmed.
Lack of troops and ammunition after more than two years of fighting has left most of Ukraine's military stranded on a 1,000-kilometre (600-mile) front line, but it is seeking to use its long-range firepower to attack targets deep in Russia. ing. The apparent aim is to disrupt Russia's war logistics system and destabilize Russia's border regions by attacking refineries and warehouses.
of Belgorod This area was the base from which Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It has been under regular attack since Russian forces withdrew from northeastern Ukraine early in the war following Kiev's counterattack.
In what has become a largely attritional war, Russia has also relied heavily on long-range missiles, artillery and drones to inflict damage on Ukraine.
Late last year, Belgorod authorities said Ukrainian attacks killed 25 people, including five children, and injured more than 100, and that regular rocket and drone attacks have continued since then. This area can be reached from the Ukrainian forests using relatively simple mobile weapons such as multiple rocket launchers.
Russian authorities announced in March that they were planning to: Evacuate approximately 9,000 children President Putin said he wanted to create a buffer zone to protect border areas before being evacuated from the area due to continued shelling.
Kremlin forces also continued to shell Ukraine's power grid, and overnight Russian drone attacks targeted energy infrastructure in the Sumy region of northern Ukraine. Local authorities said several towns and villages in the region, including Sumy, were left without power.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia attacked targets in Ukraine with 13 Shahed drones overnight, 12 of which were intercepted in the Sumy region.
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