Moscow threatened this Monday to bomb “any British military installation or equipment on Ukrainian territory and beyond” if Kiev uses “British weapons” to attack Russia.
The Russian Foreign Ministry indicated that it “alerted” the United Kingdom’s ambassador in Moscow, Nigel Casey, whom it summoned following statements by British Chancellor David Cameron about “Ukraine’s right to attack Russian territory with British weapons.”
These statements “directly contradict the guarantees provided by the British side during the delivery of long-range missiles to Ukraine”, which would not be used against “Russian territory”, according to the ministry.
“The ambassador was invited to reflect on the catastrophic consequences of the hostile measures adopted by London” and to deny Cameron’s statements, the Russian Foreign Ministry added in a statement.
Nuclear exercises
Earlier on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered nuclear exercises to be held “in the near future”, in response to statements by the rulers of Western powers about the possibility of sending soldiers to Ukraine. Since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, in February 2022, Putin has mentioned the possibility of resorting to nuclear weapons.
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced in a statement, published on Telegram, the organization of exercises “to train the preparation and use of non-strategic nuclear weapons”, which can be used on the battlefield and fired on missiles.
The Kremlin said the exercises were a response to statements by leaders of Western powers about the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov reported that authorities were talking about “the intention to send armed contingents to Ukraine, that is, to place NATO soldiers in front of the Russian Armed Forces.” Peskov mentioned French President Emmanuel Macron, whose rhetoric he called “very dangerous”, as well as statements from high-ranking officials in the UK and US governments.
Last week, Macron reiterated his position on the possible deployment of troops to Ukraine, which he had already mentioned in February. “If the Russians manage to break through the front lines, if there is a Ukrainian request – which is not the case today – we should legitimately raise the issue,” said the French president.
Aeronautics and Navy
The exercises, ordered by Putin, will include the Air Force, the Navy and the Southern Military District Forces, which are based very close to Ukraine and cover the Ukrainian regions that Moscow claims to have annexed, according to the Defense Ministry. The date and location of the exercises were not revealed.
Russian nuclear doctrine provides for the “strictly defensive” use of nuclear weapons in the event of an attack on the country with weapons of mass destruction or in the event of aggression with conventional weapons “that threaten the existence of the State”. In October last year, Russia announced that Putin supervised ballistic missile launches during military maneuvers intended to simulate a “large-scale nuclear attack” by Moscow.
