Image Credits - Sky news
Russian President Vladimir Putin pushed back against Western criticism over Moscow’s announced plans to practice the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons, describing the drill as routine “planned work” for Russia’s military.
“There is nothing unusual here, this is a planned exercise,” Putin stated in remarks released Thursday. His comments came after the Kremlin said on Monday that Russian forces would practice “the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons” in an upcoming military exercise.
The drills would involve the practice use of nuclear weapons from Russia’s stockpile of shorter-range, battlefield munitions. That prompted condemnation from NATO members like the United States, Britain and France as an escalation that could stoke nuclear tensions.
But in his comments, Putin appeared to downplay the nuclear element as simply part of Russia’s regular training schedule, accusing the West of overreacting.
The Russian leader’s defence of the drills came as he delivered a speech in Moscow marking Victory Day, the anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. As has become traditional, Putin used the commemorations to lash out at Russia’s present-day geopolitical foes.
He accused “the West” of trying to “distort” the history and legacy of World War II, which he claimed interfered with its modern “colonial policy.” Putin has frequently sought to portray Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as an existential struggle against alleged neo-Nazism.
“Russia has never belittled the importance of the Second Front and the help of the allies,” he said, referring to the Allied campaigns against Hitler’s forces in Western Europe towards the end of the war. “Russia honours all the forces that fought against Nazism.”
Toward the end of his speech, Putin made an oblique reference to the nuclear drill controversy, stating that “if someone again decides to betray Russia and wants to strike at our country, our response will be lightning fast.”
The Victory Day speech offered a glimpse into the Kremlin’s potential justification for the nuclear weapons drill – portraying it as preparation to defend against perceived Western aggression against Russia, just as the Soviet Union fought off invasion during World War II.
While Russia maintains the drills do not signal any intent to use nuclear weapons, NATO has warned that any exercises involving tactical nukes increase the risk of a devastating miscalculation.