Russia holds massive drills of its nuclear forces as Ukraine steps up its drone attacks

MOSCOW — Russia on Tuesday (May 19) began massive manoeuvres of its nuclear forces featuring practice launches of nuclear-capable ballistic and cruise missiles in drills that come amid surge in Ukrainian drone strikes.

The three-day exercise will involve 64,000 troops, over 200 missile launchers, more than 140 aircraft, 73 surface warships and 13 submarines, including eight armed with nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles, the Defence Ministry said.

The manoeuvres will focus on the “preparation and use of nuclear forces under the threat of aggression”, the ministry said.

The drills will also practice co-operation with Belarus, a neighbour and ally that hosts Russian nuclear weapons. 

Russian arsenals in Belarus include its latest intermediate range nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile system.

The manoeuvres come as Ukraine has sharply intensified its drone attacks against Russia, including a weekend barrage on Moscow’s suburbs that killed three and damaged several buildings and industrial facilities.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly reminded the world about Moscow’s nuclear arsenals after sending troops into Ukraine in February 2022 to try to deter the West from ramping up support for Kyiv.

The recent attacks have made it harder for officials in the Kremlin to cast the conflict in Ukraine — now in its fifth year — as something so distant that it doesn’t affect the daily routines of Russian civilians.

The exercise unfolded as Putin on Tuesday is starting a two-day visit to China.

Last week, he praised a successful test launch of the new Sarmat ICBM, which is set to replace aging Soviet-built nuclear missiles.

In 2024, Putin adopted a revised nuclear doctrine, noting that any nation’s conventional attack on Russia that is supported by a nuclear power will be considered a joint attack on his country. 

That threat was clearly aimed at discouraging the West from allowing Ukraine to strike Russia with longer-range weapons and appears to significantly lower the threshold for the possible use of Russia’s nuclear arsenal.

Russian hawks long have urged the Kremlin to respond to the growing Ukrainian attacks by striking Kyiv’s allies in Europe with conventional weapons, arguing that European Nato members wouldn’t dare to retaliate and enter a direct military conflict with the world’s largest nuclear power.

Last month, the Defence Ministry published a list of factories in Europe that it said were involved in producing drones and their components for Ukraine.

It warned that attacks on Russia involving drones manufactured in Europe are fraught with “unpredictable consequences”.

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