MOSCOW: Russian Prez Vladimir Putin Tuesday launched a massive exercise of the country’s nuclear forces featuring missile launches in a simulation of a retaliatory strike, as he continued to flex the country’s nuclear muscle amid spiralling tensions with the West over Ukraine. Speaking to military leaders, Putin said the drills will simulate officials’ action in using nuclear weapons and include launches of ballistic and cruise missiles.
Defence minister Andrei Belousov said the exercise is intended to practice “strategic offensive forces launching a massive nuclear strike in response to a nuclear strike by the enemy.” Putin said Russia‘s nuclear arsenal remains a “reliable guarantor of the country’s sovereignty and security.”
As part of the drills, the military test-fired a Yars ICBM from Kamchatka Peninsula. Novomoskovsk and Knyaz Oleg nuclear submarines fired ICBMs from Barents Sea and Sea of Okhotsk, while nuclear-capable Tu-95 strategic bombers held practice launches of long-range cruise missiles.