Russia Announces Nuclear Dril 05/06 06:32

   Russia plans to hold drills simulating the use of tactical nuclear weapons, 
the Defense Ministry announced Monday, days after the Kremlin reacted angrily 
to comments by senior Western officials about the war in Ukraine.

   (AP) -- Russia plans to hold drills simulating the use of tactical nuclear 
weapons, the Defense Ministry announced Monday, days after the Kremlin reacted 
angrily to comments by senior Western officials about the war in Ukraine.

   The drills are in response to "provocative statements and threats of certain 
Western officials regarding the Russian Federation," the Defense Ministry said 
in a statement.

   It was the first time that Russia has publicly announced drills involving 
tactical nuclear weapons, though its strategic nuclear forces regularly hold 
exercises. Tactical nuclear weapons have a lower yield compared to massive 
warheads that arm intercontinental ballistic missiles intended to obliterate 
entire cities.

   The announcement appeared to be a warning to Ukraine's Western allies about 
becoming more deeply involved in the more than two-year war. Some of Ukraine's 
Western partners have previously expressed concern about stoking the war amid 
fears it could spill beyond Ukraine and into a conflict between NATO and Russia.

   French President Emmanuel Macron repeated last week that he doesn't exclude 
sending troops to Ukraine, and U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron said Kyiv's 
forces will be able to use British long-range weapons to strike targets inside 
Russia.

   The Kremlin branded those comments as dangerous, heightening tension between 
Russia and NATO. The war already has placed significant strain on relations 
between Moscow and the West.

   It wasn't the first time Europe's military support for Ukraine has irked 
Russian authorities and prompted nuclear saber-rattling. In March last year, 
after the U.K. government's decision to provide Ukraine with armor-piercing 
shells containing depleted uranium, Putin announced that he intends to deploy 
tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus.

   Tactical nuclear weapons include air bombs, warheads for short-range 
missiles and artillery munitions and are meant for use on the battlefield.

   The ministry said the exercise is intended to "increase the readiness of 
non-strategic nuclear forces to fulfill combat tasks" and will be held on 
President Vladimir Putin's orders. The maneuvers will involve missile units of 
the Southern Military District along with the air force and the navy, it said.

   Meanwhile, Ukrainian drones hit two vehicles Monday in Russia's Belgorod 
region, killing six people and injuring 35 others, including two children, 
local authorities said, in an area frequently struck by Kyiv's forces in recent 
months.

   One of the vehicles was a minibus that was carrying farm workers, Belgorod 
Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

   No other details were immediately available, and it was not possible to 
independently confirm the report from the border region.

   While Ukraine's army is largely pinned down on the 1,000-kilometer 
(600-mile) front line due to a shortage of troops and ammunition after more 
than two years of fighting, it has used its long-range firepower to hit targets 
deep inside Russia. The apparent aim is to disrupt Russia's war logistics 
system by hitting oil refineries and depots, and unnerve the Russian border 
regions.

   The Belgorod region was a staging ground for Russia's full-scale invasion of 
Ukraine in February 2022. It has come under regular attack ever since Russian 
forces retreated there from northeastern Ukraine early in the war following a 
counteroffensive by Kyiv.

   In what has largely been a war of attrition, Russia has also relied heavily 
on long-range missile, artillery and drones to wreak damage on Ukraine.

   At the end of last year, Belgorod officials said 25 people were killed, 
including five children, and more than 100 were injured in a Ukrainian attack, 
and regular rocket and drone strikes have continued since then. The area can be 
reached by relatively simple and mobile weapons such as multiple rocket 
launchers from forests on the Ukrainian side.

   Russian authorities said in March they planned to evacuate about 9,000 
children from the area because of continuous shelling, after Putin said he 
wanted to create a buffer zone to help protect border regions.

   Also, the Kremlin's forces kept up their bombardment of Ukraine's power 
grid, with a nighttime Russian drone attack targeting energy infrastructure in 
Ukraine's northern region of Sumy. Multiple towns and villages in the region, 
including Sumy, lost power, regional authorities said.

   Russia attacked Ukrainian targets with 13 Shahed drones overnight, 12 of 
which were intercepted in the Sumy region, Ukraine's air force said.