Russia Announces Army Nuclear Weapon Drills, Blames West for Provocations

A Russian Iskander-M missile launcher parades through Red Square during the general rehear
Getty Images
Oliver JJ Lane

The Russian Military district responsible for occupying eastern Ukraine is to respond to “inflammatory statements… by some Western officials” by drilling with tactical nuclear weapons, Moscow has said.

Russia claims Western provocations while launching a nuclear provocation of its own, saying it will drill its nuclear missile troops, air force, and ships to “practice employing non-strategic nuclear-weapons”. Also known as tactical weapons, the lower-yield atomic bombs are intended for battlefield use to destroy opposing armies and fortifications, rather than whole cities or industries, as with long-range strategic missiles.

A statement by the Russian ministry of defence expressed the intentions of the exercise, while blaming Western states for it happening at all. Russian state media quoted the Kremlin as having said:

The exercise aims to maintain the preparedness of troops and equipment for the combat employment of non-strategic nuclear weapons to react and unconditionally ensure the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Russian state in response to provocative statements and threats by some Western officials against the Russian Federation…

Kremlin media paraphrased this as the exercise being intended to be a retaliation against what it called “inflammatory statements and threats by some Western officials”

Russia’s nuclear forces exercising isn’t exactly unheard of, the Associated Press notes, but this is the first time such a thing has been announced in advance, making clear the apparent intent to intimidate.

Long-time Putin ally and Kremlin attack dog Dmitry Peskov made clear in a statement today exactly what Western statements he blamed for this nuclear provocation, blaming “…members of US Congress, French and British administration, and some madmen from the Baltic States and Poland”.

On Sunday, minority leader of the House Democrats Hakeem Jeffries blamed a “pro-Putin faction” within the Republicans for trying to slow the rate of U.S. taxpayer’s money being sent to Ukraine, and said if the cash wasn’t spent, then America would have to send soldiers instead.

This is just days after France’s Emmanuel Macron once again doubled down on his commitment that he would make soldiers available to deploy to Ukraine. The suggestion of actually putting NATO troops into Ukraine is something Macron has been pushing for months, following comments in February which were the first time and Western leader openly discussed the possibility of aid to Ukraine going beyond just cash and bombs.

The suggestion then triggered a near-panic among some western capitals, particularly Berlin, which to that point had been carefully measuring their military donations to Kyiv to keep the war going without escalating it. Italy has been particularly scathing of Macron’s belligerent rhetoric, accusing him of gambling with war to improve his poll ratings, and again this weekend calling him “dangerous” and “desperate”.

Russia’s Medvedev attempted to make menaces in response to such comments today, saying NATO nations sending troops to what he called ‘former’ Ukraine would “mean direct engagement of their countries in war, and we will have to respond to it… none of them will be able to hide either on Capitol Hill, or in the Elysée Palace, or in Downing Street, 10. It will be a global catastrophe.”

Nuclear threats have become almost commonplace from Russia over the course of the Ukraine war, with Peskov threatening at times Armageddon in retaliation against relatively minor slights.

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.