Russia practises NUCLEAR-capable missile strikes in Baltic Sea training drill
Russia practises NUCLEAR-capable missile strikes with simulated attacks in Baltic Sea enclave between Poland and Lithuania
Russia carried out drills using nuclear-capable missiles, defence ministry says Simulated missile launches took place in enclave of Kaliningrad on Wednesday Troops rehearsed firing the missiles before moving their vehicles to avoid getting struck back, though no actual rockets were launchedComes amid fears Putin could unleash nukes as Ukraine war goes against him
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Russia has carried out simulated launches of nuclear-capable missiles from an enclave of territory in mainland Europe, amid growing fears Putin could press the button as the war in Ukraine goes against him.
War games currently taking place in Kaliningrad – a chunk of Russian territory sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea – involved ‘electronic launches’ of Iskander ballistic missiles, Moscow’s defence ministry said.
Iskander crews practised hitting targets including enemy missile systems, airfields, infrastructure and military command posts, the ministry added, before manoeuvering to avoid a retaliatory strike.
The drills did not involve any actual missiles being fired.
Putin has deployed Iskander-M mobile battlefield missile launchers (above) within 40 miles of the Ukrainian border, Ukraine’s military has said
Drills also involved more than 100 soldiers rehearsing what to do in the event of a nuclear or chemical attack on them.
It came at the same time as Belarus – which supported Putin’s invasion by allowing Russian troops to attack from its territory – staged its own war games.
Minsk announced the ‘surprise’ drill Wednesday to test the reactive capabilities of its army, the defence ministry said, while insisting it posed no threat to its neighbours.
Belarus military units were testing their capacity to “go on the alert, move to predetermined zones and undertake combat training,” the ministry said.
“The aim is to evaluate the readiness and ability of troops to react rapidly to a possible crisis,” it continued, describing the manoeuvres as a “surprise” exercise.
It published photos of columns of vehicles, including tanks, moving along roads.
The exercise will be closely watched by Kyiv, which has repeatedly accused Belarus of planning to send troops into Ukraine to help Russia’s military operation against its pro-Western neighbour.
A top Ukrainian official said the country will be ready to respond if Belarus attacks.
But British intelligence said early Thursday that such a prospect was unlikely, with the drill being ‘in line with seasonal norms’.
‘Russia will likely seek to inflate the threat posed by these exercises in order to fix Ukrainian forces in the North,’ the Ministry of Defence said.
‘[But] deviation from normal exercise activity that could pose a threat to allies and partners in the region is not anticipated.’
The Iskander, a mobile ballistic missile system codenamed SS-26 Stone by NATO, replaced the Soviet Scud missile
