Russia will conduct a military exercise that includes training for the use of tactical nuclear weapons.
This exercise comes after what the Russian Ministry of Defense described as "provocative threats by Western officials". The military exercise was ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin to test the readiness of non-strategic nuclear forces to carry out combat missions.
" A number of measures will be implemented during the exercise to put into practice issues related to the preparation and use of non-strategic nuclear weapons. Russia has the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons in the world. The operation aims to ensure the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Russia in response to provocative statements and threats by some Western officials against the Russian Federation ," the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Days earlier, the Kremlin said that NATO's largest military exercise was taking place on the border with Russia with the aim of launching an armed conflict between the Atlantic alliance and official Moscow.