‘Troubling exercises’: Vladimir Putin oversees simulated nuclear attack on the West
Vladimir Putin has overseen terrifying drills involving Russia’s nuclear forces in which they simulated an apparent strike on the West. WATCH VIDEO
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has surveyed drills carried out by his nuclear-capable forces in which they reportedly simulated a massive strike on the West.
The barrage of ballistic and cruise missiles fired in the “Operation Thunder” exercises comes as a US official has warned of “troubling developments” involving Russia’s nuclear arsenal.
Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu appeared on Russian TV saying that the aim of the drills — codenamed “Grom” or “Thunder” — was for military command and control to practise carrying out “a massive nuclear strike by the strategic nuclear forces in retaliation for the enemy’s nuclear strike”.
Russian state-run media ran footage of a submarine crew preparing the launch of a Sineva ballistic missile from the Barents Sea in the Arctic and a TU-95 bomber that launched cruise missiles.
Video released by the Russian-military run Zvezda website showed armed forces personnel in front of computers launching a Yars ballistic missile.
The drills also included launching test missiles from the Kamchatka peninsula in the Russian Far East.
The Kremlin said that all tasks set for the exercise were fulfilled and all the missiles that were test-fired reached their designated targets.
“Under the leadership of … Vladimir Putin, a training session was held with ground, sea and air strategic deterrence forces, during which practical launches of ballistic and cruise missiles took place,” the Kremlin said in a statement on Wednesday.
The drills come after a series of chilling comments from Moscow and Mr Putin – who observed the drills via videolink from a control room – that the eight-month conflict in Ukraine could turn nuclear.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on Wednesday that “my personal opinion is that Putin won’t use nukes”.
Separately, he told US TV that Ukraine’s counter-offensive in the south had been hampered by rainy weather.
In an address to the nation in September, Mr Putin said his country had “various weapons of destruction” and would “use all the means available to us”, adding: “I’m not bluffing.”
Footage of the drills across state media came after Mr Shoigu pressed ahead with telephone calls to his counterparts globally, claiming that Ukraine was developing a “dirty bomb”.
Mr Shoigu, who has made these claims in recent days to counterparts from NATO countries, reiterated them to Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe on Wednesday.
Mr Shoigu also voiced the same “concerns” in a phone with India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh earlier on Wednesday, Moscow said.
Ukraine has dismissed the allegations as “absurd” and “dangerous,” suggesting the claims could be cover for Russia’s own plans on the battlefield, as have its western allies, including Britain, France and the United States.
A dirty bomb is a conventional bomb laced with radioactive, biological or chemical materials which are disseminated in an explosion.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters earlier Wednesday that Russia had information pertaining to the “existing threat” of Ukraine using a “dirty bomb” and that Kyiv was “preparing for such a terrorist act of sabotage”.
He added: “We will continue vigorously bringing our point of view to the world community to encourage them to take active steps to prevent such irresponsible behaviour.” Nuclear rhetoric from Russia began building in September, when Moscow said it was annexing four regions of Ukraine over which its forces have partial control.
Mr Putin warned Russia could use nuclear weapons to defend them.
âš¡ï¸PUTIN TOOK PART IN NUCLEAR FORCES DRILL: TV pic.twitter.com/qZCFL4sdjY
— Russian Market (@runews) October 26, 2022
UKRAINE WARNS RUSSIA PLANNING ‘DIRTY BOMB’
Ukraine’s nuclear energy operator says Russian forces are performing secret work at the Europe’s largest nuclear power plant to launch a ‘dirty bomb’.
Energoatom, the Ukrainian enterprise that operates the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, said Russians “are preparing a terrorist act using nuclear materials and radioactive waste stored at” the plant.
“Destruction of these containers as a result of explosion will lead to a radiation accident and radiation contamination of several hundred square kilometres (miles) of the adjacent territory,” the company said.
It comes as Moscow notified the Pentagon that its annual Grom, or Thunder, nuclear exercise had begun as Russian officials doubled-down on their claims Ukraine was preparing a ‘dirty bomb’ attack on its own soil.
The Russian exercise, including the launches of nuclear-capable missiles, coincides with NATO’s nuclear exercise, “Steadfast Noon”.
The two rivals’ nuclear brinkmanship comes as Russia’s representative to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, warned the Security Council that the use of a ‘dirty bomb’ by Ukraine would be seen as an act of “nuclear terrorism”.
The US has rejected Moscow’s claims that Ukraine was planning a dirty bomb “false flag” attack.
Russia requested the UN Security Council meeting over its dirty-bomb allegations, warning Kyiv and its Western allies to “abandon its dangerous plans”.
“All these reckless Ukrainian provocations would lead to large-scale radiological contamination and may cost thousands of innocent lives,” Mr Nebenzia wrote.
“We call on the Secretary-General of the United Nations to do everything in his power to prevent this heinous crime from happening.”
Meanwhile, the US is considering sending longer range air defence missiles to Ukraine to defend against a Russian bombing campaign.
Reuters reported that two US officials said Hawk interceptor missiles could be taken from storage in an upgrade to the Stinger missiles sent so far.
KREMLIN CHIEF WANTS TO ‘REPLACE PUTIN’
Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov says Russia’s struggling military campaign has ignited a power struggle within the Kremlin to replace Vladimir Putin.
In an interview with the newspaper Ukrainska Pravda, Mr Budanov discussed possible successors to Putin, ruling out former president Dmitry Medvedev as having “no chance”.
He added that intelligence officials within the Kremlin are most likely to take over as president, including Dmitry Patrushev, son of former FSB chief Nikolai Patrushev.
But it’s Sergey Kiriyenko, the Kremlin’s first deputy chief of staff and former prime minister who is seen as the architect behind the annexation of Ukraine’s southern and eastern regions, who reportedly has ambitions as the country’s next leader.
“Kiriyenko sees himself in the chair,” Mr Budanov said, according to Sky News.
“He sees himself as the successor in such a more or less peaceful transfer of power. “
RUSSIA’S DIRTY BOMB PLOY
Russia must not escalate the conflict in Ukraine with false claims that Kyiv is planning to unleash a so-called “dirty bomb”, the head of NATO has warned.
Jens Stoltenberg weighed in following Moscow’s repeated allegations that Ukraine could deploy such a weapon, sparking fears Russia could use one and blame Kyiv.
The head of the US-led military alliance said he had spoken with Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin and Britain’s Defence Secretary Ben Wallace “about Russia’s false claim that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory.”
“NATO allies reject this allegation. Russia must not use it as a pretext for escalation. We remain steadfast in our support for Ukraine,” he wrote on Twitter.
Moscow has alleged that Ukraine is close to developing a dirty bomb, and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov insisted the threat is real.
“This is not empty information … there are serious suspicions that such things may be planned”, Mr Lavrov said, adding: “We have a keen interest in preventing such a terrible provocation.”
But State Department spokesman Ned Price said Washington is worried that Russia’s claims could be a cover.
“We have seen a pattern in this conflict and the lead-up to this war where the Russians have engaged in mirror imaging – the Russians have accused the Ukrainians, the Russians have accused other countries of what itself was planning. That is our concern”, Mr Price said.
US Secretary of state Antony Blinken told his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, “the world would see through any attempt by Russia to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation”, and vowed to continue supporting Kyiv for as long as necessary.
Mr Kuleba denounced Moscow’s claims as “absurd” and “dangerous”, adding: “Russians often accuse others of what they plan themselves”.
The head of the Russian army Valery Gerasimov repeated Moscow’s claims in a telephone call with his US counterpart on Monday, the defence ministry said.
The call was the latest in a string of conversations between Russian defence officials and counterparts from NATO countries, during which Moscow said, without providing evidence, that Kyiv was planning to deploy a dirty bomb.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy acted swiftly to Moscow’s claims, calling for a united international response.
“If Russia calls and says that Ukraine is allegedly preparing something, it means one thing: Russia has already prepared all this,” Mr Zelenskyy said in a video address on social media. “I believe that now the world should react as harshly as possible.”
Mr Zelenskyy said everyone “understands who is the source of everything dirty that can be imagined in this war. It was Russia who blackmailed with the radiation disaster at the Zaporizhzhia NPP [nuclear power plant].”
In a statement on Monday, Russian Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov said: “According to the information we have, two organisations in Ukraine have specific instructions to create a so-called ‘dirty bomb’. This work is in its final stage”.
At its most basic, a dirty bomb is a conventional weapon laced with radioactive, biological or chemical materials that are disseminated in an explosion.
Moscow’s claims follow weeks of military defeats for Russia in southern and eastern Ukraine, with observers and Kyiv saying the Kremlin is becoming increasingly desperate.
In Kyiv’s latest announcement of territorial gains, the Ukrainian military claims to have pushed Russian forces from several villages in the northeast of the country.
‘DROWN, BURN CHILDREN’: TV PRESENTER APOLOGISES FOR SLUR
A presenter with state-funded Russian television channel RT apologised after being suspended for calling for the burning of Ukrainian children.
“I apologise to everyone who was stunned by this. I apologise to Margarita [Simonyan], to everyone who found these comments wild, unthinkable,” Anton Krasovsky, a 47-year-old pro-Kremlin pundit under Western sanctions, said on Telegram.
Margarita Simonyan, the chief editor of RT, formerly Russia Today, announced the channel was suspending its work with Mr Krasovsky over his “wild and disgusting statement”.
Meanwhile on Russia's state-funded RT, director of broadcasting Anton Krasovsky suggests drowning or burning Ukrainian children, makes hideous comments about the rapes by Russian soldiers in Ukraine, says Ukraine should not exist and Ukrainians who resist Russia should be shot. pic.twitter.com/BGIaBNok4v
— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) October 23, 2022
Mr Krasovsky’s comments sparked an uproar on social media, after he responded to a guest talking about meeting Ukrainian children in the 1980s who said they saw Russia as an occupier in Soviet times.
These children “need to be drowned … shove them into their huts and burn them up,” Mr Krasovsky said.
Ms Simonyan, who has been a fierce supporter of Russia’s military action in Ukraine, said she wanted to “warn those who call for atrocities. Don’t do it.”
The Russian investigative committee, which looks into serious crimes, said it had ordered a probe into the incident after a viewer complained.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called on governments to “ban RT worldwide”, accusing the channel of “aggressive genocide incitement”.
Mr Krasovsky had previously said on air that Ukraine “should not exist, and we are doing everything to make sure it does not.”
Accused of spreading Kremlin propaganda, RT has been blocked in most Western countries since President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine on February 24.
– with AFP
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