Russia has officially launched tactical nuclear drills.  Troops of Russia’s Southern Military District launched the first stage of recently announced tactical nuclear drills on Tuesday, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has confirmed.

The exercise will also involve the delivery of nuclear weapons to troops, covert deployment, and preparations for a strike, the Defense Ministry has said.

Moscow announced the drills earlier in May, citing what it called a “new” and “unprecedented” escalation in the Ukraine conflict. The Kremlin pointed to statements by French President Emmanuel Macron, who has repeatedly refused to rule out a NATO deployment in Ukraine.

The following video was shared by the Russian Defense Ministry.

When announcing the drills a week previously, the ministry explained that the exercise is designed to serve as a deterrent amid continued escalation between Russia and the West, by demonstrating Moscow’s ability to respond to any external threats.

It will involve delivery of nuclear weapons to troops from storage sites, arming tactical nuclear missiles, and preparation of missile launches, Moscow announced in a statement on Telegram. –RT

The Russian military will be using the Iskander-M systems, which can fire 9M723-1 ballistic missiles or 9M728 cruise missiles. Both of these can carry tactical nuclear warheads with yields between five and 50 kilotons. The Southern Military District forces will also practice covert deployment operations using the systems, as part of launch-preparation drills, according to the military.

The Russian Foreign Ministry later commented that the drills should be viewed as an attempt to “cool hot heads” in the West amid “belligerent statements” and “destabilizing actions” of the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) countries.

The rhetoric from both sides has gotten more intense. The West is in a proxy war with Russia, and its getting more and more obvious that there’s a push toward escalation and a hot war.

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