The announcement of tactical nuclear forces exercises, the first public, “in the near future”, in an unspecified location in Russia, precedes by a few hours the inauguration of Vladimir Putin for his fifth term as Presidenttwo days before Victory Day which celebrates the anniversary of the defeat of the Nazi forces in 1945.
The exercises, on Putin’s instructions to the Ministry of Defense, will be dedicated “to the preparations and deployment” of non-strategic nuclear forces “to operate combat missions” and have the objective of “guaranteeing the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the state Russian”, in response to “provocative statements and threats against Russia by certain Western figures”, the Ministry of Defense announced.
The accusations against NATO
“Deploying NATO soldiers to confront Russian soldiers amid escalating tensions is an unprecedented step. And it requires attention and special measures”, explained the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, citing the recent statements of some Western leaders, including Emmanuel Macron, but also US and UK personalities, explaining that he “has nothing to add”. The Ministry of Defense specified that missile units from the Southern Military District (North Caucasus) will take part in the exercises, supported by the air force and the navy. Tactical nuclear weapons, in which Russia has invested heavily in recent years, will take part in the exercises. they are to be used on the battlefield, unlike strategic ones, intended to reach objectives far from the front.
Who will be present in the Kremlin
Meanwhile, in view of today’s inauguration of Putin in the Kremlin – after the re-election in March with 87.5% of the votes – the EU and its member states “are still discussing the approach” to take in the face of the Russian president’s invitation to participate in the ceremony and “not a final decision has yet to be made, said EU Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Peter Stano during a press briefing in Brussels, specifying that High Representative Josep Borrell is against the EU’s participation in the ceremony tomorrow. .
“I confirm that an official invitation has been sent from the Kremlin – he continues – to the EU member states and to the EU delegation in Moscow. We are discussing with our member states the form of our response”, because “we always aim to have a coordinated approach, when possible, in foreign policy”, he concluded.
SI know that diplomats from Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia and the Czech Republic will not be present at the parade: Yesterday the Foreign Minister, Jan Lipavský, announced that the government has recalled the ambassador to Moscow and that Prague will not be represented at the inauguration ceremony. France will be represented by its ambassador in Moscow, Pierre Levy, as a French diplomatic source told the Tass agency.
In Moscow, then, in the last few hours, rehearsals took place for the parade on Red Square on Thursday, when, in addition to the tanks, Iskander-M, S-400, and Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles will also parade. In contrast to 2022, a few months after the start of the invasion of Ukraine, and 2023, Su-30SM, Mig-29 and Su-25 fighter jets will take to the skies. However, like last year, the March of the Immortals, a parade of Russians with images of a family member who died in the Great Patriotic War, was cancelled. Officially, for security reasons.
