Russia appears to be conducting a nuclear attack test on Ukraine while concealing details of the missile war.
Russia has begun exercising its non-strategic nuclear forces, which was announced at the beginning of May. The Defense Ministry in Moscow announced that the first stage of the maneuver, which is intended to increase the readiness of the nuclear forces, has begun in the southern military district. The Iskander and Kinschal missile complexes are also involved. These tactical weapons can be equipped with nuclear warheads.
These are nuclear weapons that can be used selectively against enemy troops and other military targets. As a rule, they have a significantly lower explosive power than the strategic nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles, which were developed specifically for deterrence. In view of Western arms deliveries to Ukraine, which has been defending itself against the Russian war of aggression for more than two years, the maneuver is seen as a threatening gesture by Putin.
The Russian Defense Ministry released a video showing vehicles being positioned in a forested area, according to the British Telegraph.
The video shows soldiers preparing mobile Iskander missile systems. These are capable of carrying out attacks with both nuclear and conventional missiles. What is striking in the video, however, is that the missile’s warhead, which Moscow calls a “special-purpose warhead,” was obscured by censorship. According to the Telegraph, analysts expressed the view that this approach was rather “theatrical.”
As part of the exercises, it will also be seen how a MIG-31 bomber is equipped with a supersonic Kinschal missile, which can also be equipped with a nuclear warhead. The Kremlin said the exercises were a response to “escalating” statements from British and French officials who had advocated the use of Western weapons against targets in mainland Russia.
Experts see the exercises as a refresh of Russia’s threat to use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a former commander of the Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Regiment, said, according to The Telegraph: “This is more bluff and bluster. Putin seized on the prospect of a nuclear confrontation early on, when the West rightly ignored it. This is further evidence that Russia’s tactical nuclear threat is a paper tiger and should be treated as such.”
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