A few weeks after announcing the suspension of its participation in the nuclear disarmament treaty that links it with the Americans, Russia proceeded to test launch an “advanced” intercontinental ballistic missile. In a press release, the Russian Defense Ministry announces that this test by a “combat” unit was carried out “successfully” from the Kapustin Yar test site.
However, the ministry specified that the exercise was meant to “test advanced combat equipment.”
Use of nuclear weapons
Since the start of the conflict in Ukraine in February 2022, President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly hinted that the use of nuclear weapons was not out of the question if Russia was threatened.
The latest example, on March 25, when he announced that Moscow was going to deploy “tactical” nuclear weapons in Belarus, its ally in the conflict, causing concern in Kiev and the West.
At the end of February, both houses of the Russian Parliament also ruled on the suspension of the New Start nuclear disarmament treaty, signed in 2010. This is the last bilateral nuclear disarmament agreement between Russia and the United States in which the parties agreed to limit their nuclear stockpiles and undergo mutual inspections. These two decisions were strongly condemned by NATO.
Vladimir Putin had promised at the end of February the entry into service this year of the latest intercontinental ballistic missile, the Sarmat, described as a weapon capable of “frustrating all anti-aircraft systems” and that “will cause those who try to threaten” Russia.
Source: BFM TV
