loading…
Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to oversee a massive nuclear drill on Saturday (19/2/2022). Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with his Western allies in Germany. Photo/Kremlin.ru
The Russian Defense Ministry said today’s military drills will include several exercises for launching intercontinental ballistic missiles and cruise missiles. The Air Force, southern military district units, as well as the North Sea and Black Sea fleets will engage in large-scale nuclear drills.
Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, during talks with Putin on Friday in Moscow, said he would also take part in overseeing Saturday’s drills.
The war games come after US President Joe Biden said on Thursday that Russia could attack Ukraine within days.
Western concern focuses on the roughly 150,000 Russian troops, including about 60 percent of Russia’s overall ground force, concentrated near the Ukrainian border.
Also read: Russia to Hold Massive Nuclear Exercises Amid Ukraine Crisis
The Kremlin insists it has no plans to attack. But Moscow has demanded that the US and its allies keep Ukraine and other former Soviet states out of the NATO military alliance, not deploy weapons in Ukraine and withdraw NATO troops from Eastern Europe.
Washington and its allies have bluntly rejected Russia’s demands, and Moscow has threatened to take unspecified “military-technical measures”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was being transparent about Saturday’s drills, had given notifications to all appropriate channels, and that these drills should not worry anyone.
He said Putin’s role was critical, and the president was likely to take part in “the center of the situation”.
–
