Vladimir Putin has ordered nuclear exercises involving troops positioned near Ukraine . Exercises, specifies the Russian Ministry of Defense, involving the Navy and troops based near Ukraine.
And during which "a series of measures will be adopted to practice the preparation and use of non-strategic nuclear weapons ", the ministry specified in a note, adding that the measure was taken "on the instructions of the supreme commander in chief of the forces armies of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin".
A move which, says Moscow, "aims to maintain the army's readiness to protect the country in response to provocative statements and threats made against Russia by some Western officials ."
The exercises, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov then said even more clearly, respond to the "unprecedented" declarations on the sending of Western troops to Ukraine . And when journalists asked him to be more explicit, he replied: «It is obvious that we are talking about the statements of Macron and the British representatives . This is a completely new phase of escalation of tensions. It is unprecedented and requires special measures."
And, as if that weren't enough, come the incendiary statements from the former Russian president and current deputy secretary of the National Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev : «The sending of Western troops to Ukraine will lead to their countries' direct entry into the war, to which one we will have to answer. And, alas, not on the territory of Ukraine. The USA, France and the United Kingdom will not be able to hide, there will be a global catastrophe ", he writes on Telegram. “For this reason, today the General Staff began preparations for the exercises, including measures to practice the preparation and use of non-strategic nuclear weapons.”
