The Russian Military district responsible for occupying eastern Ukraine is to respond to “inflammatory statements… by some Western officials” by drilling with tactical nuclear weapons, Moscow has said.
A statement by the Russian ministry of defence expressed the intentions of the exercise, while blaming Western states for it happening at all. Russian state media quoted the Kremlin as having said:
The exercise aims to maintain the preparedness of troops and equipment for the combat employment of non-strategic nuclear weapons to react and unconditionally ensure the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Russian state in response to provocative statements and threats by some Western officials against the Russian Federation…
Kremlin media paraphrased this as the exercise being intended to be a retaliation against what it called “inflammatory statements and threats by some Western officials”
Russia’s nuclear forces exercising isn’t exactly unheard of, the Associated Press notes, but this is the first time such a thing has been announced in advance, making clear the apparent intent to intimidate.
Russia Says Risk of Nuclear, Chemical, Biological War Increasing, Blames Americahttps://t.co/tqPW6AWqZy
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) November 8, 2023
Long-time Putin ally and Kremlin attack dog Dmitry Peskov made clear in a statement today exactly what Western statements he blamed for this nuclear provocation, blaming “…members of US Congress, French and British administration, and some madmen from the Baltic States and Poland”.
This is just days after France’s Emmanuel Macron once again doubled down on his commitment that he would make soldiers available to deploy to Ukraine. The suggestion of actually putting NATO troops into Ukraine is something Macron has been pushing for months, following comments in February which were the first time and Western leader openly discussed the possibility of aid to Ukraine going beyond just cash and bombs.
WWIII WATCH https://t.co/gSskyyL3g4
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) March 13, 2024
The suggestion then triggered a near-panic among some western capitals, particularly Berlin, which to that point had been carefully measuring their military donations to Kyiv to keep the war going without escalating it. Italy has been particularly scathing of Macron’s belligerent rhetoric, accusing him of gambling with war to improve his poll ratings, and again this weekend calling him “dangerous” and “desperate”.
Russia’s Medvedev attempted to make menaces in response to such comments today, saying NATO nations sending troops to what he called ‘former’ Ukraine would “mean direct engagement of their countries in war, and we will have to respond to it… none of them will be able to hide either on Capitol Hill, or in the Elysée Palace, or in Downing Street, 10. It will be a global catastrophe.”
Nuclear threats have become almost commonplace from Russia over the course of the Ukraine war, with Peskov threatening at times Armageddon in retaliation against relatively minor slights.
WWIII Watch: Macron Floats Troops in Ukraine for First Time, Moscow Warns of ‘Inevitable’ War with NATOhttps://t.co/NjQbqHsN1Q
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) February 27, 2024
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