The Russian Ministry of Defense, on behalf of Putin, began preparations for the exercises “in order to increase the readiness of non-strategic nuclear forces to carry out combat missions,” according to the department’s telegram channel.
During the exercises “a set of measures will be carried out for practical working out issues of preparation and use non-strategic nuclear weapons «, the Ministry of Defense said.
The exercises, which will be held “in the near future,” will involve missile formations of the Southern Military District, aviation and the Navy.
The Russian military department called the purpose of the exercise “response and unconditional provision of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Russian state in response to provocative statements and threats of individual Western officials.” The Ministry of Defense does not write about exactly what statements we are talking about.
Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov later told reporters that the exercises are related to statements by French President Emmanuel Macron, «British representatives and a representative of the US Senate» who «talked about readiness and even intention to send armed forces» to Ukraine , “that is, actually putting NATO soldiers in front of the Russian military.”