May 22, 2026, 06:57May 22, 2026, 06:57
At the end of a large-scale exercise, Russia tested an entire arsenal of nuclear-capable missiles. A Yars intercontinental nuclear missile was fired from northern Russia at a target area on the Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula, the Defense Ministry in Moscow announced.
Russia has tested nuclear-tipped missiles.Image: keystone
According to the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his ally Alexander Lukashenko from Belarus followed the maneuver on the screen. The triad of land-, sea- and air-based nuclear weapons will always serve as a “guarantor of the sovereignty of the alliance of states Russia and Belarus,” Putin said. The weapons were only for defense. Russia will renew its arsenal, but will not allow itself to be drawn into an arms race.
Rocket launches from nuclear submarines
According to the military, nuclear-powered Russian submarines fired missiles of the state-of-the-art Zirkon and Sineva types. MiG-31 fighter jets fired at Kinschal with hypersonic missiles, and Tu-95 long-range bombers fired at additional missiles. Units of the Belarusian army launched an Iskander-M ballistic missile at the Kapustin Yar test site in southern Russia.
Belarus and Russia are not threatening anyone, but are ready to defend their common homeland from Brest to Vladivostok, Lukashenko said. The armed forces of both countries had been practicing interaction in the use of nuclear weapons since Tuesday. Russia has stationed its newest Oreshnik medium-range missile in Belarus. It is taking Belarus under its nuclear umbrella, but is also increasing its control over the neighboring country.
Exercises of the so-called nuclear triad are quite common. This time the maneuver came at a time of heightened tensions between European states and Russia. Moscow demonstratively displayed its military might after the war against Ukraine stalled, and these weaknesses were also felt at the scaled-down Victory Day parade on May 9. (dab/sda/dpa)