Russia Conducts Exercises to Repel 'Massive' Nuclear Attack

Photo: Launch of "Yars" ICBM from Plesetsk Cosmodrome

On Tuesday, October 29, Russia test-fired missiles thousands of miles away to simulate a "massive" nuclear response to an enemy first strike.

"Given the rise in geopolitical tensions and the emergence of new external threats and risks, it is important to have modern strategic forces that are constantly ready for combat use," — said Russian President Putin, announcing the exercises, Reuters reports.

The exercises come at a critical moment in the Russia-Ukraine war, weeks after Russia signaled to the West that Moscow would respond if the United States and its allies allowed Kyiv to fire longer-range missiles deep into Russia.

On Monday, October 28, NATO said North Korea had sent troops into European Russia, a claim Moscow did not deny.

In televised comments, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Beloussov told Putin that the aim of the exercises was to practice launching a “massive nuclear strike by strategic offensive forces in response to an enemy nuclear strike.”

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The exercises involved Russia's entire nuclear “triad” of land-, sea- and air-based missiles.

The Yars intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) was launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northwestern Russia toward Kamchatka, a peninsula in the Far East. The Sineva and Bulava ballistic missiles were launched from submarines, simulating a “massive” response to an enemy nuclear attack, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The 2½-year-old war in Ukraine is entering what Russian officials call its most dangerous phase, as the West considers options to shore up Ukraine as Russian forces advance in the country's east.

Putin has said the use of nuclear weapons would be an “extreme and exceptional measure.”

“I will emphasize that we are not going to engage in a new arms race, but we will maintain nuclear forces at the necessary sufficiency level,” — he said.

He added that Russia is switching to new "stationary and mobile missile systems", which have a reduced launch preparation time and are capable of overcoming missile defense systems.

The exercises, which took place earlier, on October 18, in the Tver region included the field deployment of units equipped with Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles, capable of striking US cities.

Prepared by: Sergei Daga