Russia issued a sharp reminder on Tuesday that it could use battlefield nuclear weapons in Ukraine, two weeks after releasing a video of its forces beginning exercises. President Vladimir V. Putin orders Provocative maneuvers.
Video released by the Russian Defense Ministry showed a convoy of military vehicles driving along a wooded road and a mobile Iskander missile system – which can fire conventional or nuclear explosives – moving into launch position with warheads obscured. The video also showed a missile-equipped supersonic strategic bomber and an attack aircraft preparing to take off. †
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that the exercise, conducted near Ukraine, was aimed at preparing troops to use tactical nuclear weapons. The ministry said its goal was to “unconditionally ensure the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Russian state in response to provocative statements and threats by individual Western officials”.
When the Kremlin announced the drills earlier this month, it said the move was a response to Comments from French President Emmanuel MacronRefusing to rule out sending French troops to Ukraine, Britain’s top diplomat David Cameron Ukraine could use British weapons to attack Russian territory.
Dmitri S. Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, called their comments “unprecedented” at the time and described them as “a whole new round of escalation” that warranted a response from Moscow.
The drills are Russia’s clearest warning yet that it could use nuclear weapons in a war with Ukraine.
“This is clearly a form of nuclear coercion,” said Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear nonproliferation expert at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. “They even blurred out the warhead of the Iskander ballistic missile, which seemed unnecessary but was dramatic.”
The possibility of the conflict escalating to a nuclear conflict was present from the start, with Moscow trying to use its nuclear arsenal to prevent Western countries from aiding Kiev. On the day he launched his invasion more than two years ago, Putin warned countries considering intervening to aid Ukraine that they would face “consequences never seen in the entire history.”
Unlike strategic nuclear weapons, which are launched over long distances and have the ability to destroy entire cities, tactical nuclear warheads are designed for battlefield use. Their purpose is against limited targets, usually over relatively short distances, and their yield is low enough to limit damage to a specific area.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that the first phase of the drills had begun in the Southern Military District, which includes much of southern Russia and areas of Ukraine currently occupied by Moscow.
The drills come amid widespread questions about whether Western countries should intervene more forcefully in the conflict to help Ukraine’s beleaguered military. Ukraine’s military has been struggling with ammunition and personnel shortages and delays in aid from its biggest backer, the United States.
in a Interviewed by The New York Times In an article published on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on NATO countries to participate more directly in the war, specifically by helping to shoot down Russian missiles. He also said he wanted to be able to use U.S. weapons against Russian forces on Russian soil, but that Washington would not allow that.
Zelensky added that fears of a nuclear escalation were exaggerated, saying Putin “may be irrational, but he loves his life.”
The Russian Defense Ministry said that during the drills, Russian forces practiced loading “special” warheads on the Iskander system, which has a range of hundreds of miles, and covertly moving it to a launch position. Troops also practiced loading warheads onto aircraft during the exercise.
U.S. officials have been concerned for years about Russia’s vast arsenal of tactical nuclear weapons, but efforts to control the weapons through diplomatic means have failed amid broader conflicts over Cold War-era arms control agreements.
Russian state news also reported on Tuesday that former general Ivan Popov Open opposition to Moscow’s military leadership Last year, a viral recording released by a Russian lawmaker showed he was arrested on suspicion of fraud.
General Popov, the former commander of Russia’s 58th Combined Army, was detained in a criminal case involving “particularly large-scale fraud,” the Russian state news agency TASS reported.
Last year, he lashed out at Russia’s military leadership after he was dismissed, saying the country’s top officer, General Valery Gerasimov, had “treacherously and despicably beheaded our troops” at a particularly sensitive moment for the Russian military. At the time, his troops were fending off a Ukrainian counteroffensive in the Zaporozhye region.
This recording appears in turmoil It was caused by the failed uprising of the mercenary leader Yvegeny V. Prigozhin.
General Popov’s lawyer, Sergei Buinovsky, told Russian news media that his client denied wrongdoing.
In recent weeks, Russian authorities have also arrested senior subordinates of former Defense Minister Sergei K. Shoigu in an anti-corruption operation.Kremlin New defense minister appointedEconomist Andrei R. Belousov appointed Shoigu chairman of Russia’s Security Council.
The arrests are seen as a way to stop senior Russian officials from stealing state funds that are flooding into the defense sector, and as a way to boost morale among troops who are angered by the idea of senior officials getting rich from the war. trenches.
But General Popov’s capture could have the opposite effect on the Russian military. He is generally popular among rank-and-file soldiers, and some pro-war military bloggers defended him on Tuesday.
Alexander Sladkov, a war correspondent for Russian state media, wrote on Telegram: “General Ivan Popov is not a thief. He is a soldier.”
