Retaliation attacks: President Putin initiates Russia’s nuclear forces drills

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a large nuclear drill on October 29, 2024, that included missile launches in an attempt to simulate a retaliation strike.

According to report, President Putin continues to demonstrate the nation’s nuclear might in the midst of escalating tensions with the West over Ukraine.

In a video conference with military officers, Putin said the exercises will include launches of nuclear-capable ballistic and cruise missiles and will mimic top officials’ use of nuclear weapons.

Defense minister Andrei Belousov reported that the exercise is intended to practice “strategic offensive forces launching a massive nuclear strike in response to a nuclear strike by the enemy”.

According to the report, the Russian president has threatened to use nuclear weapons in an effort to stop the West from stepping up its support for Ukraine.

He underlined that Russia’s nuclear weapons is still a “reliable guarantor of the country’s sovereignty and security”.

“Taking into account growing geopolitical tensions and emerging new threats and risks, it’s important for us to have modern strategic forces that are always ready for combat”, he said.

He reiterated that Russia views the use of nuclear weapons as “the ultimate, extreme measure of ensuring its security”.

Putin stated that Moscow will keep updating its nuclear arsenal by introducing new missiles with improved accuracy, faster launch times, and greater capacity to get past missile defenses.

As part of the drill exercises, the defense ministry announced that the military fired a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile from the Plesetsk launch pad.

This was at the Kura testing range on the Kamchatka Peninsula.

While nuclear-capable Tu-95 strategic bombers practiced long-range cruise missile launches, the Novomoskovsk and Knyaz Oleg nuclear submarines tested ICBMs from the Barents Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk.

According to the ministry, every missile hit its intended target.

The Russian leader said last month that NATO would go to war with Ukraine if it were permitted to utilize longer-range weaponry provided by the West for strikes deep within Russia.

He reaffirmed the message by unveiling a revised nuclear strategy that views a conventional assault on Russia by a non-nuclear state backed by a nuclear power as a joint attack on his nation.

Putin further stated that the updated agreement leaves open the possibility of a nuclear reaction to any aerial attack by allowing for the employment of nuclear weapons in the event of a major air strike.

The maneuvers on Tuesday come after Russia’s nuclear forces had conducted a number of prior exercises.

Belarus, an ally of Moscow that has hosted some of Russia’s tactical nuclear weapons, and the Russian military conducted a joint nuclear exercise earlier this year.

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