Moscow, 6 May. (Adnkronos) – The announcement of tactical nuclear forces exercises, the first public, “in the short future”, in an unspecified location in Russia, precedes by a few hours the inauguration of Vladimir Putin for the fifth term as President, in two days from Victory Day which celebrates the anniversary of the defeat of 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.
“Deploying NATO soldiers to confront Russian soldiers in the escalation of tensions is an unprecedented step. And it requires attention and special measures”, explained Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, citing recent statements by some Western leaders, including Emmanuel Macron , but also from US and UK personalities, explaining that he “had nothing to add”. The Ministry of Defense specified that missile units from the Southern Military District (North Caucasus), supported by the air force and the navy, will take part in the exercises. Tactical nuclear weapons, in which Russia has invested heavily in recent years, are to be used on the battlefield, unlike strategic ones, intended to reach objectives far from the front.
Meanwhile, in view of Putin’s inauguration in the Kremlin today – after his re-election in March with 87.5% of the votes – the EU and its member states “are still discussing the approach” to be taken in the face of invitation from the Russian president to participate in the ceremony and “a final decision has not yet been taken, said the EU spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Peter Stano, during the press briefing in Brussels, specifying that the 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.
It is known 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 ceremony inauguration. 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.
