Russia to carry out exercises for tactical nuclear weapons
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his country’s military to test its readiness to use tactical nuclear weapons—a step the Kremlin said was a response to recent comments by Western officials, including warnings that European powers could do more to help Ukraine in its fight with Moscow. Exercises involving Russia’s navy and air force, along with units in the country’s southern military district that oversees Crimea and other parts of Ukraine occupied by Russian forces, are to begin on an undisclosed date, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the drills are a response to some Western officials’ suggestions that restrictions on Kyiv’s use of Western weapons should be lifted, and that Ukraine’s allies could significantly increase their involvement in the war if Russia threatens major Ukrainian cities. “This is a whole new level of escalation of tensions, it’s unprecedented, and of course it requires special attention and special measures," Peskov said.
Peskov singled out French President Emmanuel Macron, who has said that the West should consider sending ground troops to Ukraine if Kyiv is close to defeat. A spokesperson for Macron declined to comment.
The Kremlin spokesman also took aim at the U.K., whose Foreign Secretary David Cameron said last week that Ukraine has the right to decide how to use long-range weapons provided by his country, appearing to back away from a policy banning the use of Western-supplied arms to strike Russia. The announcement of Russian military drills also comes as more than a dozen member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization take part in the security alliance’s largest military exercise since the Cold War, focused on countering threats from
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