The Russian Ministry of Defense confirms that it has conducted extensive exercises with its “strategic deterrence forces” – including test firings of cruise missiles and intercontinental ballistic missiles from air, sea and ground platforms.
The exercises are said to be a direct response to recent NATO nuclear exercises in Western Europe.
– In the course of the command and control exercise, the Armed Forces are working out the missions of inflicting a mass nuclear strike with strategic deterrent forces in response to an enemy atomic attack, says Andrei Belousov, Minister of Defense, in a press release.
– Sineva and Bulava ballistic missiles were launched from the nuclear-powered strategic missile submarine Novomoskovsk in the Barents Sea and from the nuclear-powered submarine Knyaz Oleg in the Sea of Okhotsk. Tu-95MS long-range aircraft were also involved in the exercise, launching cruise missiles, the Ministry of Defense further comments.
According to Moscow, all objectives were “completed in full, all missiles reached their targets”, with the main purpose of the exercise being to check the readiness level of the forces.
Yesterday, Putin called nuclear weapons “an extreme, exceptional measure to ensure state security”, adding that new updated missile launchers, submarines and bombers will soon be ready.
– Given the growth of geopolitical tensions as well as the emergence of new external threats and risks, it is important to have modern strategic forces that are constantly ready for combat use, the President continued.
RUSSIA TESTS NUKES…
Russia successfully launch-tested its nuclear missile that could allegedly reach Los Angeles in 30 minutes… Paris in 10 minutes.
2024 just keeps getting better…
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) October 29, 2024
Could “adjust nuclear doctrine”
According to Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the Russian parliament’s international affairs committee, the nuclear exercises should not be seen as a threat, but he stresses that Russia must be ready to deter any act of aggression.
– Russia is a threat to no one. But with the geopolitical situation as it is, we have to think about adjusting our nuclear doctrine and maintaining our strategic deterrence forces at a sufficient level.
Moscow has previously declared that if the West continues to deliver increasingly advanced weapons systems to Kiev, enabling attacks on Russian territory, this will be considered an act of war, and a number of analysts have expressed concern that the steady escalation could seriously risk leading to a full-scale nuclear war.
The proposed changes to Russia’s nuclear doctrine would extend Moscow’s nuclear umbrella to Belarus and define a conventional attack by a non-nuclear state like Ukraine, backed by nuclear powers, as a “joint attack” that could trigger the use of nuclear weapons, according to Russian state broadcaster RT.
