Putin starts tactical nuke drills near Ukraine

Military personnel “involved in the exercise practise equipping aviation weapons with special warheads, including the Kinzhal aeroballistic hypersonic missiles, and flying into designated patrol areas,” the Kremlin added.

Unlike strategic nuclear weapons, which are designed to destroy entire cities, the goal of tactical nuclear weapons is to be used on the battlefield.

Earlier this month, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov accused French President Emmanuel Macron and “British representatives” of provoking Russia’s nuclear escalation, after U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron said during a trip to Kyiv that Ukraine could strike Russia with British weapons, while Macron has floated the possibility of sending Western troops to fight in Ukraine.

The Kremlin’s nuclear test aims to “ensure the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Russian state in response to provocative statements and threats of individual Western officials,” the Russian defense ministry concluded.