Vladimir Putin holds second mobile nuclear missile launcher drills as tensions ramp up
Russian media confirmed its military would carry out the exercises less than two months after its last nuclear drills.
Vladimir Putin has deployed its forces for a second round of mobile nuclear missile launcher drills this summer as tensions between Russia and the West continue to ramp up.
Moscow has been involved in a series of military exercises both domestically and abroad since the start of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
However, the drills with Yars mobile nuclear missile launchers are the second of its kind Putin has authorised in less than two months.
Russian troops tested out their missile launching skills across two regions in early July and joined their Belarusian allies in May to engage in tactical nuclear weapons deployment drills.
Troops deployed in the Volga River basin are expected to move 62 miles off their base to practice camouflage and deployment, according to the Interfax news agency.
According to the Russian newspaper Kommersant, the Yars system can be loaded with a missile carrying multiple warheads.
The range of the Yars is 11,000km and the publication noted that the system can be deployed in silos or mounted on truck carriers.
Announcing the drills, the Russian Ministry of Defence said: "Servicemen of the Yoshkar-Ola missile unit are carrying out missions including intensive manoeuvres on combat patrol routes.
"Yars missile crews are practising marches of up to 100 kilometres, spreading out the units, changing their field positions, and their engineering equipment, camouflaging efforts, and protection in combat.
"Also, strategic missile servicemen are rehearsing ways to counter sabotage and reconnaissance groups."
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Russia has maintained an ambivalent position on the use of nuclear weapons since the start of the war in Ukraine.
Shortly after the invasion began, Moscow put its nuclear arsenal on high alert, sparking fears the conflict would spark a devastating global war.
While Putin has maintained Russia would not deploy atomic weapons unless the country's integrity came under threat, he has repeatedly had his troops carry out nuclear drills.
And his allies across Russian state media have repeatedly warned Ukraine allies in the West that Moscow would be ready to go nuclear if necessary.
Only last week, Russian TV aired a map of possible NATO targets of a nuclear attack.
