Putin Oversees Russia’s Strategic Nuclear Exercises As Tensions Soar Over Ukraine

Russia has test-fired its latest hypersonic ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and nuclear-capable ballistic missiles as part of “planned” drills, the Kremlin said on February 19, as tensions escalate over Ukraine.

Russian news agencies cited spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying that President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka watched the drills from the situation room in the Kremlin. Peskov said the exercises were part of a regular training process.

According to Russia’s Defense Ministry, the drills involve nearly all branches of Russia’s armed forces, including its aerospace and strategic rocket forces, as well the Northern and Black Sea fleets, which have nuclear-armed submarines.

The exercises come hours after the United States warned that it was now sure that Moscow is planning to invade Ukraine within days.

Russia says it has no plans to attack its neighbor. But Washington insists that with some 150,000 Russian troops on Ukraine’s borders — as many as 190,000, when including the Russian-backed separatist forces in Ukraine’s east — Moscow has already made up its mind.