Russia rehearses nuclear attack on Ukraine – but censors its own warheads
The Russian defence ministry's footage showed Iskander missile systems moving into position in a wooded area for the test launch
The Russian defence ministry's footage showed Iskander missile systems moving into position in a wooded area for the test launch
Russia is rehearsing a nuclear attack on Ukraine, broadcasting footage of military drills close to the border between the two countries.
The Russian defence ministry published footage showing vehicles moving into position in a wooded area for the test launch, which was ordered by Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, two weeks ago.
Troops can be seen readying mobile Iskander missile systems – which are capable of delivering strikes with both nuclear and conventional rockets.
As the rocket emerges from one of the launchers, its warhead, claimed by Moscow to be a “special purpose warhead”, is notably blurred by censors to obscure the tip.
Details of the nuclear programme are closely guarded but the move to blur the warhead was described by analysts as “theatrical”.
In the exercises, a Mig-31 bomber can also be seen being readied with a hypersonic Kinzhal missile, which can be armed with a nuclear warhead, in the state-released footage.
The Kremlin said the exercises were in response to “escalatory” comments by British and French officials, who have endorsed the use of Western weapons to hit targets in mainland Russia.
Experts said the exercises were designed as a reminder of Russia’s threat to use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
‘Nuclear threat is a paper tiger’
Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a former commander of the Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Regiment, said: “This is more bluff and bluster. Putin used the prospect of a nuclear battle early on when the West rightly ignored it.
“This is another indication that Russia’s tactical nuclear threat is a paper tiger and should be treated as such.
“It is most likely that the warhead is not a nuclear one – we know they have had to use many Islanker missiles to launch conventional ones as they run out.”
Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear nonproliferation expert at the Middlebury Institute for International Studies, told The New York Times: “It’s transparently an effort at nuclear coercion.
“They’ve even blurred the warhead on the Iskander ballistic missiles, which seems unnecessary but theatrical.”
Putin has repeatedly raised the prospect of the conflict turning nuclear, usually in an effort to deter Western military support for Kyiv.
Senior Nato officials have previously disregarded his comments as “psychological intimidation rather than real intentions”.
Mircea Geoana, Nato’s deputy secretary-general, added in March: “We do not see any imminent threat of Russia using these weapons. But these statements are in themselves very dangerous, because they erode trust. Russia knows the consequences of taking such a step.”
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