Without any warning, Russian President Vladimir Putin activated a "snap" strategic nuclear deterrence exercise. The drill - happening right now on Tuesday -- involves ballistic and cruise missile launches.
Russia's nuclear triad (land-based, air-launched, sea-launched) remains a reliable guarantor of Russia’s security and sovereignty, Putin stressed, adding that it also helps maintain “nuclear parity and the balance of power in the world.”
“Given the growth of geopolitical tensions as well as the emergence of new external threats and risks, it is important to have modern strategic forces that are constantly ready for combat use,” the president said. Moscow plans to further improve all the “components” of its nuclear triad, he noted.
Russia seeks to maintain its nuclear forces at the “necessarily sufficient” level, but it does not intend to be dragged into a new arms race, Putin said.
“Russia reaffirms its principled stance that the use of nuclear weapons is an extreme, exceptional measure to ensure state security,” the president stated.
Moscow’s strategic forces are outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment by 94%, according to Putin. Troops will also receive new stationary and mobile missile systems that have higher precision and shorter launch preparation time compared to previous generations, he added.
The nuclear attack exercise is taking place as you read this story on Tuesday at 2:03 PM EDT.
**** UPDATED 6:58 PM EDT ****
Intelligence Sources inside Russia CONFIRM: During the exercise of Russia's strategic nuclear forces, the so-called " nuclear football " (the Cheget terminal) WAS used!
- Bulava and Sineva ICBMs were successfully launched from a submarine.
- A "Yars" ICBM was successfully launched from Plesetsk
- Multiple Cruise missiles were launched from Tu-95MS strategic bombers.
- All missiles (without special warheads) hit their designated targets.
Russian Defense Minister Belousov, who personally participated in the training for the first time, confirmed "During the training, the tasks of delivering a massive nuclear strike in response to a nuclear strike by the enemy were being practiced."
