Russian President Vladimir Putin has conducted a training exercise of the nation’s nuclear deterrent forces, according to an official statement on the Kremlin’s website.
During the exercise, missiles were launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, a nuclear submarine in the Barents Sea, and Tu-95 bomber aircraft.
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu told Putin that the exercise, among other things, practiced “launching a massive nuclear strike with strategic offensive forces in response to an enemy’s nuclear attack.”
On the morning of October 25, the Russian Federation Council approved a law to withdraw ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. The Russian authorities explained their actions by stating that the treaty had not been ratified by many nations, including the U.S. and China.
