Russia’s Defense Minister and head of Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation examine arctic testing grounds
Russia’s Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and the head of the Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation Alexey Likhachev toured Russia’s Central Testing Grounds on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, says a Defense Ministry press release.
The Defense Ministry’s statement says that between 1954 and 1990, nuclear weapons testing was carried out at the testing grounds, with a total of 132 nuclear explosions taking place at the site. Now, says the ministry, the site’s main function is the preparation and testing of promising models of weaponry and military equipment.
Journalist Dmitry Kolezev points out, however, that in late February Russian President Vladimir Putin said that “some figures” in Washington were thinking about “the possibility of testing their nuclear weapons.” At that point, Putin said that if the U.S. tested nukes, Russia would do the same.
