Russia Holds Scheduled Nuclear Drills a Week After NATO Exercises

Russia on Wednesday carried out planned strategic nuclear drills, just a week after NATO launched its own annual nuclear exercises, as tensions in Europe over the Ukraine war continue to intensify.

“Today we are conducting planned — I would like to emphasize, planned — nuclear forces training,” President Vladimir Putin said during a televised meeting with senior military officials.

The Russian maneuvers coincided with the suspension of planned peace talks between US President Donald Trump and Putin, and amid faltering efforts to find a resolution to the Ukraine conflict.

According to the Russian military, the exercise included a simulated intercontinental ballistic missile launch from a submarine in the Barents Sea near NATO’s borders, another mock launch from a northern cosmodrome, and strategic bombers performing air-launched missile strikes. The defense ministry released videos showing the coordinated launches from land, sea, and air.

The drills come as NATO members grow increasingly uneasy over Russia’s recent airspace incursions in Poland and Estonia and a series of unexplained drone sightings, prompting renewed calls to strengthen the alliance’s defenses.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky failed to secure long-range US Tomahawk missiles during his latest visit to Washington, despite persistent appeals. Moscow has repeatedly warned that any transfer of the nuclear-capable missiles to Kyiv would trigger a “serious escalation.”