Vladimir Putin prompts fresh WW3 fears as he leads major training exercise | World | News
Vladimir Putin personally supervised a training exercise for Russia’s nuclear forces on Wednesday, sparking new fears of World War III. Russia has rattled off its nuclear weapons multiple times since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Kremlin propagandists have repeatedly threatened to destroy Western countries, including Britain, with their nuclear weapons in an attempt to deter NATO support for Ukraine. In another showy show of force, Russia’s nuclear forces were challenged during a massive exercise. Intercontinental ballistic and cruise missiles were fired from land, sea and air from various parts of Russia.
A Yars ballistic missile was launched from the Plesetsk State Test Cosmodrome towards the Kura range in Kamchatka.
Sineva ballistic missile was fired from the Bryansk nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine in the Barents Sea.
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 organizing the management of subunits (forces).”
It is estimated that there are more than 12,4000 nuclear warheads in the possession of various states around the world. The vast majority of them (about 90 percent) belong to Russia and the USA.
According to the website, Russia is believed to have 5,580 nuclear warheads, while the United States is estimated to have 5,225 nuclear warheads. armcontrol.org
Other countries with nuclear arsenals include the United Kingdom (225), France (290), Israel (90), Pakistan (170), India (172), China (600) and North Korea (50).
Russia has been modernizing its strategic and non-strategic nuclear-capable systems over the past several decades and is approaching completion of this process.
But commercial satellite imagery and other open sources show that elements of Russia’s nuclear modernization are progressing much slower than planned. Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.
There are significant delays, especially in the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles and bombers.
