The Second Phase of Russia's Tactical Nuclear Exercises with Belarus Begins

On Tuesday, June 22, Russia announced the start of the second phase of nuclear exercises with Belarus, claiming that the United States and its European allies are "pushing the world to the brink of nuclear confrontation" by supplying billions of dollars in weapons to Ukraine, some of which are being used against Russian territory. According to Reuters, since Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and the occupation of parts of that country, Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, has repeatedly threatened that Russia could use nuclear weapons for self-defense in dire situations. In this context, Russia explicitly linked nuclear exercises ordered by Putin to what it called "provocative statements and threats from some Western officials against the Russian Federation" last month. In the first phase of these exercises, Russian forces reviewed the deployment of Iskander missiles and the arming of hypersonic "Kinzhal" missiles. The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that the second phase of the exercises includes joint training of Russian and Belarusian units "for the combat use of non-strategic nuclear weapons." Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, responded to a question about these exercises by saying, "The situation on the European continent is completely tense and is provoked every day by the decisions and actions of the hostile European capitals towards Russia, and most importantly, by Washington. Therefore, such exercises and maintaining our combat readiness are very important." Vladimir Putin previously stated that Russia does not need to use nuclear weapons to ensure victory in Ukraine. However, he did not rule out changing Russia's nuclear doctrine, which specifies the conditions for using such weapons. According to Reuters, senior U.S. intelligence officials say that Moscow's statements regarding nuclear weapons should be taken seriously. According to the Federation of American Scientists, Russia and the U.S. are the world's largest nuclear powers, holding nearly 88% of the world's nuclear weapons. The report states that "tactical nuclear weapons" are designed for battlefield use; therefore, they generally have less power than strategic nuclear weapons, which can completely destroy cities. Russia has about 1,600 non-strategic nuclear warheads, although arms control experts say that due to Moscow's secrecy, determining their number is very difficult. Vladimir Putin said last week that the explosive power of many of Russia's tactical nuclear weapons is between 75 to 80 kilotons – nearly five times the power of the atomic bomb that the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945. A senior White House aide said on Friday that the U.S. may need to deploy more strategic nuclear weapons in the coming years to counter the growing threats from Russia, China, and other countries.