Russia rattles nuclear saber, orders tactical nuke drills

Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a candle in church — "Nuclear blackmail is a constant practice of Putin's regime"

(Image credit: Contributor / Getty Images)

What happened

Russian President Vladimir Putin, inaugurated to a fifth presidential term Tuesday, ordered Russia's military to hold drills simulating the use of battlefield, or tactical, nuclear weapons, the Kremlin said Monday. Russia's Defense Ministry said "provocative statements and threats of certain Western officials" prompted the exercises, citing comments from British Foreign Secretary David Cameron and French President Emmanuel Macron regarding aid to Ukraine.

Who said what

If Ukraine uses British weapons to strike inside Russia, as Cameron endorsed, Russia could strike British military facilities inside or outside Ukraine, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. And Macron's suggestion that French troops could fight alongside Ukraine is a "completely new round of escalation of tension" requiring "special measures." White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said "it's just reckless and irresponsible for a leader of a major nuclear armed power to be 'saber rattling'" that way. "Nuclear blackmail is a constant practice of Putin's regime," Ukrainian military intelligence spokesperson Andrii Yusov said. "It does not constitute major news."

What next?

As Putin "persists in his bloody campaign to conquer Ukraine," he is "reengineering his country into a regressive, militarized society that views the West as its mortal enemy," The Washington Post said.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.