Russia stages major nuclear drills amid doctrine shifts
The Russian military has conducted large-scale exercises for the second time since early 2024, aiming to simulate the use of nuclear weapons. These exercises fully utilized the so-called nuclear triad and were directly overseen by Vladimir Putin.
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According to Defence Minister Andrey Belousov, the maneuvers involved simulating a full-scale nuclear conflict. In the practiced scenario, an enemy attacks Russian territory, prompting the armed forces of the Russian Federation to respond with a massive nuclear strike.
From land, sea, and air
As part of these exercises, an intercontinental ballistic missile, "Yars," was launched from the Plesetsk cosmodrome, reaching its target at the Kura test site in Kamchatka.
Meanwhile, nuclear submarines stationed in the Barents Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk launched ballistic missiles "Sineva" and "Bulava," while strategic bombers Tu-95MS conducted tests with cruise missiles.
The Ministry of Defence emphasized that all tasks were completed in full, and the missiles reached their targets.
Russia conducted the last major nuclear exercises mid-year, in collaboration with the Belarusian army. At that time, tactical nuclear strikes were practiced using systems provided to Belarus by Moscow in 2023. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov explained these actions as an escalated response to international tensions and speculations about the possibility of deploying NATO troops in Ukraine.
"This is a completely new level of tension, requiring special attention and additional precautions," Peskov said at that time.
Commenting on the current exercises, Putin noted that the use of nuclear weapons is an "extreme and last resort, used only to ensure the country's security." He also announced further modernization of nuclear forces, which, according to him, now consist of 94% modern equipment.
Putin reminded that at the beginning of the war in Ukraine, he had declared that Russian nuclear forces were on "special combat readiness," and six months later, he threatened to use "all available means" to defend the Ukrainian territories he had occupied.
Russia changes nuclear doctrine
At the beginning of 2023, Russia also suspended its participation in the New START treaty on the reduction of strategic offensive arms, which until then remained the last bilateral agreement on nuclear arms control between the USA and Russia.
In the summer of 2024, Putin announced preparations for changing the Russian nuclear doctrine. These changes are related to Western considerations of lowering the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons and efforts towards highly precise, low-yield nuclear charges. The current Russian doctrine allows for the use of nuclear weapons in the case of a nuclear threat or "threat to the existence of the state."
