Russia launched an extensive three-day military exercise Tuesday focusing on its nuclear capabilities, deploying thousands of personnel and weapons systems as tensions escalate over increased Ukrainian drone operations.
The large-scale training operation includes 64,000 military personnel, more than 200 missile launching systems, over 140 military aircraft, 73 naval vessels, and 13 submarines, with eight of those submarines equipped with nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles, according to the Defense Ministry.
Military officials described the exercise as focusing on the “preparation and use of nuclear forces under the threat of aggression,” the ministry stated.
The training operation will also include coordination activities with Belarus, a neighboring ally that provides hosting facilities for Russian nuclear weaponry. Among the Russian military assets stationed in Belarus is the newest intermediate range nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile system.
These military exercises are occurring during a period when Ukraine has significantly escalated its drone operations targeting Russia, including a recent weekend assault on Moscow’s surrounding areas that resulted in three fatalities and caused damage to multiple buildings and industrial sites.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has consistently highlighted Moscow’s nuclear capabilities since deploying military forces into Ukraine in February 2022, attempting to discourage Western nations from increasing their assistance to Kyiv.
The escalating attacks have created challenges for Kremlin officials trying to portray the Ukrainian conflict — now entering its fifth year — as a distant situation that doesn’t impact Russian citizens’ everyday lives.
The military training coincides with Putin beginning a two-day diplomatic visit to China on Tuesday.
Putin recently commended the successful testing of the new Sarmat ICBM last week, which is designed to replace older Soviet-era nuclear missiles.
Putin implemented an updated nuclear policy in 2024, stating that any conventional military strike against Russia backed by a nuclear-armed nation would be viewed as a coordinated assault on his country. This warning was clearly designed to discourage Western nations from permitting Ukraine to use longer-range weaponry against Russia and seems to substantially reduce the conditions for potential nuclear weapon deployment.
Russian military hardliners have consistently pressured the Kremlin to retaliate against increasing Ukrainian strikes by targeting Kyiv’s European allies with conventional weaponry, claiming that European NATO countries would not risk retaliation and direct military confrontation with the world’s largest nuclear-armed nation.
The Defense Ministry released a catalog last month identifying European manufacturing facilities it claims are producing drones and related components for Ukraine. Officials cautioned that strikes against Russia using European-manufactured drones could result in “unpredictable consequences.”
