The move comes after an acrimonious exchange with senior Western officials, labelled by Moscow as 'provocative threats'.

The move comes after an acrimonious exchange with senior Western officials, labelled by Moscow as ‘provocative threats’.

Moscow plans to hold a military exercise simulating the use of tactical nuclear weapons, the Defense Ministry announced, just days after the Kremlin reacted angrily to comments by senior Western officials about the war in Ukraine.

The drills are in response to “provocative statements and threats of certain Western officials regarding the Russian Federation,” the Defence Ministry said in a statement Monday.

The exercise is intended to “increase the readiness of non-strategic nuclear forces to fulfil combat tasks” and will be held on President Vladimir Putin’s orders, according to the statement. The manoeuvres plan to involve missile units of the Southern Military District along with Russia’s air force and navy.

    • Zron@lemmy.worldEnglish
      9·
      7 months ago

      Vlad took a swig of his “Coffee” at his station. His commander had said something about “make sure you use the drill launch codes during the test”

      Vlad pondered the sticky note that had been on his work station since he got there. 2 lines of numbers written haphazardly on aging yellow paper loomed before him. Was it the top one that was real, or the bottom. Surely the drill code would be used more and should be on top. But the real code is more important, so it should be on top.

      His radio chirped, and the angry voice of his commander squealed out. It was time.

      He took a coin from his pocket and flipped it, tails, bottom code it is. He entered the numbers and hit the worn red button on his console.

      As he heard the rumble of rocket engines from deep in the bunker, he knew his luck was as rotten as ever. He swigged his coffee one last time.