Russia Announces More Tactical Nuclear Weapon Drills With Belarus

A Russian RS-24 Yars mobile missile system at Alabino training ground in Russia is capable of launching large ICBMs as well as missiles fitted with low-yield tactical non-strategic nuclear warheads. (Sergei Bobylev/Russian Defence Ministry Press Office/TASS)

Russia and Belarus kicked off the second stage of nuclear force exercises, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state-run media that the nuclear drills are a response to what Russia claims are escalatory measures by the United States and NATO amid the Ukraine conflict.

“There is a fairly tense situation on the European continent, which is provoked every day by new hostile decisions and actions of European capitals and Washington towards Russia. Provocation occurs on a daily basis. Therefore, of course, such exercises and maintaining combat readiness are very important for us,” Mr. Peskov said, according to state-controlled media.

Since sending thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said Russia could use nuclear weapons to defend itself in extreme situations, comments that the West has dismissed as saber-rattling.

Russia last month, meanwhile, linked the nuclear drills ordered by Mr. Putin to what it said were “provocative statements and threats by certain Western officials against the Russian Federation.”

In the first stage of the drills, Russian troops trained on how to arm and deploy Iskander missiles, while the air force trained on how to arm Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, according to state-run media.

Russia has said the United States and its European allies are pushing the world to the brink of nuclear confrontation by giving Ukraine billions of dollars worth of weapons, some of which are being used against Russian territory.

In footage released by Russia’s defense ministry on social media, an Iskander missile system was shown being driven into a field, with its missiles raised. Also shown were MiG-31 supersonic interceptors carrying Kinzhal missiles and Tupolev Tu-22M3 long-range supersonic bombers.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu confirmed the new exercises in an article for a Russian state-run media outlet. Mr. Shoigu noted that there has been a “generally restrained reaction from the international community to the exercises of Russia’s non-strategic nuclear forces in the Union State,” referring to an agreement between Russia and Belarus.

The defense minister also asserted that the nuclear drills are “an adequate response to the West’s support” for Ukraine’s forces as well as claims that Western leaders have given “permission for Kyiv to launch missile attacks” targeting Russian assets inside Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that Russia had no need to use nuclear weapons to secure victory in Ukraine, marking the Kremlin’s strongest signal to date that the conflict will not escalate into a nuclear war. He also said he did not rule out changes to Russia’s nuclear doctrine, which sets out the conditions under which such weapons could be used.

“The use is possible in an exceptional case, in the event of a threat to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country. I don’t think that such a case has come. There is no such need,” Mr. Putin told an economic forum in St. Petersburg, Russia, on June 8, according to a translation of a streaming video feed of the event.

Russian Ships Sent to the Caribbean

The drills come as Cuba’s foreign ministry confirmed on June 6 that Russian navy ships would be deployed around the Caribbean Sea this week.

“This visit corresponds to the historical friendly relations between Cuba and the Russian Federation and strictly adheres to the international regulations,” the Cuban Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “None of the ships carry nuclear weapons, so their stopover in our country does not represent a threat to the region.”

The foreign ministry’s statement added that Russian sailors will visit various Cuban government officials and places of “historical and cultural interest” and undertake other “activities.”

Neither Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor the Ministry of Defence have issued public comments on the forthcoming visit. The United States also has not publicly commented on the matter.

Reuters contributed to this report.