Vladimir Putin personally supervised a training exercise of Russia’s nuclear forces on Wednesday, sparking fresh fears of World War 3. Russia has repeatedly rattled the nuclear sabre since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Kremlin propagandists have threatened on numerous occasions to obliterate Western countries including the UK with their nukes, in an attempt to deter Nato support for Ukraine. In yet another ostentatious show of force, Russia’s nuclear forces were put through their paces during an extensive drill. Intercontinental ballistic and cruise missiles were fired from the land, sea and air from various locations in Russia.
A Yars ballistic missile was launched from the Plesetsk State Test Cosmodrome towards the Kura range in Kamchatka.
A Sineva ballistic missile was fired from the Bryansk nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine in the Barents Sea.
While Tu-95MS long-range aircraft also participated in the training, and fired cruise missiles.
In a statement following the exercises, the Kremlin said: “The training tested the level of preparedness of military command and control bodies and the practical skills of operational personnel in organising the management of subordinate troops (forces).”
It is estimated that there are over 12,4000 nuclear warheads held by various states around the world. The vast majority of these – nearly 90% – belong to Russia and the United States.
Russia is believed to have 5,580 nuclear warheads, while the US is estimated to possess 5,225 – according to the website armscontrol.org
Other countries that have nuclear arsenals include the UK (225), France (290), Israel (90), Pakistan (170), India (172), China (600) and North Korea (50).
Russia has been modernising its strategic and non-strategic nuclear-capable systems over the past few decades and is nearing the completion of this process.
However, commercial satellite imagery and other open sources indicate that elements of Russia’s nuclear modernisation are proceeding much more slowly than planned, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
In particular, upgrades to intercontinental ballistic missiles and bombers face significant delays.