Russia begins the “second stage” of its maneuvers with the use of non-strategic nuclear weapons

June 11 () –

The Russian Government announced this Tuesday the start of the “second stage” of its military maneuvers with the use of non-strategic nuclear weapons, which includes “joint training” of units of the armies of Russia and Belarus.

“In line with the decision of the President of the Russian Federation, the second stage of the maneuvers of non-strategic nuclear forces has begun,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement published on its Telegram account.

Thus, he stated that “units of the Armed Forces of Russia and Belarus will carry out joint training on the combat use of non-strategic nuclear weapons” with the aim of “maintaining the preparation of personnel and equipment of 8 units. ..) to unconditionally guarantee sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

On the other hand, he highlighted that the Southern Military District carried out training work during the first stage of these maneuvers with the ammunition of the ‘Iskander’ ballistic missile system, while the personnel of the Aerospace Forces carried out practices with missile systems. ‘Kinzhal’ hypersonics.

Russian authorities announced in early May that they had begun preparations for these exercises with non-strategic nuclear weapons in the face of what they described as “provocative statements” and “threats” against Moscow by “Western officials” in the context of the invasion of Ukraine, unleashed in February 2022.

In this way, Kremlin spokesman Dimitri Peskov took direct aim at the statements of several international leaders, including the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, about the possibility of deploying troops in Ukraine. “It is obvious that we are talking about Mr. Macron’s statements,” he said, while also pointing out the United Kingdom Foreign Minister, David Cameron.

“They have talked about their intention to send armed contingents to Ukraine, that is, to expose NATO soldiers to the Russian Army,” he said, before arguing that since it is “a completely new escalation of tension” and “without precedents”, it was necessary to take “special measures”.

For his part, the foreign spokesman of the European Union, Peter Stano, pointed out that these maneuvers were “irresponsible” and another example of Russia’s intention to intensify its offensive against Ukraine. Therefore, he called on Russia to end hostilities and its aggressive behavior.