Russia MoD

Russia tested nuclear missiles from land, sea and air as it simulated a “massive” response to an attack from the West.

Vladimir Putin also warned that Russia would respond to any attack with “overwhelming” nuclear firepower because this was his “last” security.

“Given the growing geopolitical tensions and new emerging threats and risks, it is important for us to have modern strategic forces that are always ready for combat,” the president said.

Kremlin-linked news agencies said the Russian military launched a nuclear-capable Yars intercontinental ballistic missile from the Plesetsk launch pad at the Kura test range on the Kamchatka peninsula.

The Yars missile was secretly developed in 2007. It is a thermonuclear missile that can be armed with four warheads that are individually programmed to hit different targets.

The Russian Defense Ministry also said two nuclear-powered submarines in the Barents Sea in the Arctic and the Sea of ​​Okhotsk in the Pacific Ocean fired ballistic missiles that can be armed with nuclear warheads.

Tu-95 strategic bombers also launched long-range cruise missile attacks.

In a live video stream, Andrey Belousov, Russia’s defense minister, told Putin the exercise simulated “Russia’s strategic offensive forces launching a massive nuclear strike in response to an enemy nuclear strike.”

In September, Putin lowered the threshold to launch a nuclear strike in Russia’s military doctrine. Analysts said Russia’s nationwide nuclear test on Tuesday had been expected and planned for months, although with more nuclear tests there was a growing sense of nuclear danger.

“Ten days after the US began the Global Thunder nuclear exercise, Russia said it had ‘practiced the launch of a massive nuclear strike,'” said Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Intelligence Project at the Federation of American Scientists. “Important to add that these exercises are planned long in advance and not a direct reaction to the other.”

Ukraine is still trying to convince its Western partners to allow it to fire Western-made long-range missiles at Russia, a move the Kremlin has warned would trigger a major response.

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