Moscow launched military exercises involving tactical nuclear weapons near Ukraine on Tuesday.
With this operation, Russia says it is responding to “threats” from Western countries.
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More than two years of war in Ukraine
Major military exercises near the Ukrainian border. The Russian army announced on Tuesday that it had launched an operation involving tactical nuclear weapons in the Southern Military District, based near Ukraine and which covers Ukrainian regions that Moscow claims to annex. “The first stage of exercises (…) on the preparation and use of non-strategic nuclear weapons has begun“, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a press release.
These so-called tactical weapons are short-range technologies. But these are still bombs with much greater power than those dropped by the United States on Hiroshima or Nagasaki in 1945. Although many Western countries officially assure today that they no longer possess this type of weapon , Moscow, conversely, claims possession.
Thus, these strategic weapons currently represent 2000 warheads out of the 6000 present in the Russian nuclear arsenal.
Aviation and long-range missiles
Concretely, how do these exercises materialize? According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Russian soldiers train to load “special ammunition“in the long-range Iskander missile batteries, but also to move them”in a concealed manner” on firing zones. This large-scale operation would also involve aviation and Kinjal hypersonic missiles. Usually, these missiles “are positioned in particular in Kaliningrad“, in the west of Russia, explains Pierre Servent, geopolitical columnist for LCI. “They have a dual purpose, continues the specialist. They can fire both conventional missiles, containing no nuclear charge, or nuclear charges.“
These exercises come a few weeks after the declarations of Vladimir Putin, who announced on May 6 the upcoming holding of a special operation of this type. Today, the Russian Defense Ministry reaffirmed Russia’s readiness to act “in response (…) to threats from certain Western officials“.”The current exercise aims to maintain the readiness of personnel and equipment (…) for the use of non-strategic nuclear weapons to respond” to this kind of remarks, warns Moscow in a press release. Among the positions criticized by the Russian authorities: the exit of Emmanuel Macron, who had recalled the possibility of the potential sending of ground troops to Ukraine, before qualifying his position.
“A gesture” on the part of the Russians?
Should we be worried about these movements, located at a short distance from Ukrainian territory? In reality, military exercises of this type are regularly carried out by different armies, including those of democracies. Here, the Kremlin’s communication on the actions of its army seems to be similar to “staged“from the Russians, according to Pierre Servent.”We are in a fairly classic gesture on the Russian side, which consists of scaring the West“, analyzes the expert in military strategy, still on the LCI set.
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Since the start of the conflict in Ukraine in February 2022, President Vladimir Putin has blown 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.
