Nuclear war games

Severomorsk, Russia

Russia this week conducted its biggest military exercises since Soviet times. Thousands of troops from land, air, and sea forces played out joint maneuvers and tested nuclear-capable ballistic missiles and cruise missiles. President Vladimir Putin said the display was intended to show Russia’s importance to global security. “During Soviet times, the nuclear forces of the Soviet Union were a serious stabilizing factor,” Putin said. “We need to maintain this power, and we will do it.” The exercises appeared to be modeled on Soviet-era simulations of all-out nuclear war with the United States, but the military insisted they were not aimed at any particular country.