President Vladimir Putin is overseeing a nuclear strike drill as the Russian invasion of Ukraine enters its eighth month.
Media reports say that the maneuver involved test-firing missiles from the Kamchatka peninsula located in the Russian Far East and the Barents Sea near Norway. “Under the leadership of… Vladimir Putin, a training session was held with ground, sea and air strategic deterrence forces, during which practical launches of ballistic and cruise missiles took place,” the Kremlin confirmed in a statement published Wednesday.
The drill showcases Moscow’s ability to carry out a “huge nuclear strike in response to an enemy nuclear strike,” Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu declared.
Sky News (UK) reported the details of the Russian nuking drill:
The drills saw the test-firing of a Yars land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the launch of a Sineva ICBM by a Russian nuclear submarine and the Tu-95 strategic bombers set off cruise missiles at practice targets.The US said it was notified Russia was planning to stage the routine drills and the country had complied with the terms of the nations’ last arms control agreement.Military exercises involving land, sea and air components of the Russian nuclear triad have taken place on an annual basis to train the country’s nuclear forces and demonstrate their readiness.
The first Russian nuclear drill since the start of the war in Ukraine comes after President Putin threatened to use “all means we have” to protect Russian territory — days after declaring Ukraine’s annexed regions part of Russia. The Russian move coincides with a Ukrainian counteroffensive on multiple fronts that have so far managed to retake sizable territory.
Since late August, Ukrainian has reportedly liberated close to 1,000 square miles in the east and south of the country.
Earlier this week, Russia claimed at the United Nations Security Council that Ukraine was working on a “dirty bomb,” an explosive device containing radioactive material. Kyiv dismissed the allegations, accusing Moscow of plotting similar plans.
Russia, the second-largest nuclear power after the U.S., has close to 4500 functional warheads, most of which “are considered strategic nuclear weapons – ballistic missiles, or rockets, which can be targeted over long distances,” the BBC noted.
Almost a month after Moscow ordered a mobilization of military reservists, invading Russian forces appear to have halted the Ukrainian counteroffensive and seem to be on the offensive, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s statement on Wednesday suggests.
He claimed that the Ukrainian military is blocking the Russian advance in the eastern Donbas region. “Ukrainian troops are holding out on the eastern front,” the German state broadcaster DW News reported Wednesday night, citing the Ukrainian President’s statement.
The DW News reported Zelenskyy’s remarks:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an evening video address on Wednesday that Ukrainian forces had been holding out against Russian attacks, especially in parts of Donbas. “The situation on the front line hasn’t changed significantly,” he said.”The fiercest battles are in the Donetsk region, towards [the cities of] Bakhmut and Avdiyivka”. He added that Russian forces have continuously attempted to capture the key city of Bakhmut, but to no avail.”This is where the craziness of the Russian command is most evident. Day after day, for months, they are driving people to their deaths there, concentrating the highest level of artillery strikes,” the president said.
The admission from Kyiv comes as the Ukrainian military prepares an offensive to retake the Black Sea region of Kherson. “As Russia sends in reinforcements, some experts say, (Kherson) could be the most consequential battle of the war since Russia invaded Ukraine eight months ago,” the French TV channel Euronews reported Thursday.
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