(AFP / MEDIA VOICE) Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered to carry out nuclear drills "in the near future" with the participation of troops stationed near Ukraine, in response to what Russia describes as "threats" from Western leaders towards Moscow, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced this Monday in a communication collected by AFP.
"During the exercise, a set of measures will be carried out to practice the issues of preparation and use of non-strategic nuclear weapons," the ministry said in a statement posted on Telegram.
It added that the measure was taken "on the instructions of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation," Vladimir Putin.
The training comes "in response to provocative statements and threats by certain Western officials against the Russian Federation," the ministry said.
The exercises will include aerial, navy and ground forces from the Southern Military District, which is based very close to Ukraine and covers the Ukrainian regions that Moscow is attempting to annex.
The date and location of the drills were not specified.
In October 2023, Russia announced that Putin supervised ballistic missile launches during military exercises intended to simulate a "massive nuclear attack" by Moscow.
